


Fruit Salad!

by Lav



Category: Original Work
Genre: Comedy, Cute, Gen, High School, Humor, Light-Hearted, Original Fiction, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-05
Updated: 2020-03-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:21:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 24,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23032375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lav/pseuds/Lav
Summary: Kiwi is a fruit lives at farm in a backwater town. Through a seemingly random string of events, she ends up going to Orchard Academy. One of the most prestigious high school for fruits in the world. Follow the awkward girl as she makes a fool of herself while somehow making some equally weird friends along the way.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 1





	1. Welcome to Orchard

Umm… Hello there. My name is Hayward Kiwi and I am a fruit entering my sophomore year of high school. A Kiwi to be exact. Though I’m guessing you already know that. Recently, I was enrolled into Orchard Academy. A prestigious school dedicated to making the best fruits on the market. Well, that’s what my parents say. It's a “well of opportunity” according to my dad. Though I’m excited to go, I'm not sure if I belong somewhere like that. I grew up on a farm and for a good portion of my life, I’ve been home schooled. The country is pretty much all I know.

Don't get me wrong. I'm happy I get to see the city. Really. But if the school is as great as everyone says it is, how am I supposed to blend in? I don't want to be known as the girl that comes from the sticks. Hopefully when Dad said “prestigious”, he just meant ‘better than the farm’. But let’s ignore that, since I have a more important problem…

I’m hopelessly lost.

I’ve never actually been to the school before. So not only is today my first day, it’s also my first time in the town. My dad told me to use the GPS on my phone but it's a little beyond me… On the farm, cellphone coverage didn't reach far so we used landlines. This also meant no internet… Had to go to town for that. Anyway, this doesn't change the fact that this GPS is useless. I would be better off just asking someone for directions.

_Skrrt! Skrrt!_

"Hey! Watch out!"

I heard the startling screech of tires behind me before a sudden dull pain racked through my body. It happened instantly. One moment I was walking, the next I was laid flat on the ground, covered in dust. Thankfully, other than a slight throbbing pain, I was fine. I gathered myself and checked out the ‘accident’. Luckily, it wasn't a car that hit me. just a very hefty bike. It's driver, a petite red haired, was sprawled out on the ground right beside it. For such a slim figure, I'm surprised she could push along this monster of a bike. It’s so big it might as well been a car. Really looking at it, I don’t how I got out of that without a broken bone or two… I stood up and heard a dry crunch. My heart stuck into my stomach.

Wait a minute. Don’t tell me…

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the remains of what vaguely resembled a cellphone.

Of course. Good. Not like I NEEDED that..

"Ouch…”

The girl finally got up.

After giving herself a quick dust off, she quickly apologized. “I’m really sorry! I didn't notice you…"

She stopped midst apology and stared at me with her bright red eyes. At first I thought she was having a mini-stroke from falling off the bike, but I figured out what it was.

My outfit!

I didn’t have a uniform and since today was my first day of class, I decided “why not go all out?”. I put on my lucky brown "coffee pot" t-shirt, my hand-knitted brown cap, some beautiful dark brown leggings, and brown hi-top sneakers. All of it complimented by this cute brown bear hoodie my mom bought me. Not trying to brag, but this has to be one of my best fits. I've never seen it not turn heads. And just so I didn’t overdo the brown, I put on a green bra. Might not seem like much, but it’s the little things that matter.

"...I'm so very sorry."

Even though she apologized, it felt more like pity. The ‘bless your heart’ type of pity. The type of pity people in the country show to those kids who ate worms and mud pies… I don’t know. Maybe I’m just overthinking things.

"I'm fine. Well, besides my phone, I'm fine. No worries," I said.

"Are you sure?” she asked.

I nodded. I’m not super burly or anything, but it’ll take a bit more than a bike to take me out. Maybe if she hit me twice then I’d be in trouble.

“I see. I’m glad,” she said relieved before scrambling back onto her bike. “Well, I’m gonna go. Not to be rude, but I got hurry before I’m late to school. Sorry again for running into you."

Hey! Maybe she goes to Orchard too? I gave her a quick look over: white shirt, blue pants, logo that kind of looks like a garden…? Close enough.

"Do you go to Orchard Academy?" I called out in time to stop her.

The girl stopped dead in her tracks.

"Yeah. I do." She pushed aside her red hair. "You go there too? You don't look like you do."

"Oh! I don’t have a uniform, so I dressed up. It’s my first day."

"Dressed up?" Her nose wrinkled. "Well, you did your best…” she smiled dryly.

What’s with that reaction? It’s like she smelled something rotten, or she’s trying to hold in gas.

"What’s wrong?" I asked.

"Oh! Nothing! It’s nothing. Anyway, my name is Apple. Welcome to the school." She extended her hand for a handshake. “Well, this isn’t the school, but you get what I mean.”

I smiled and shook her hand. "Thanks. I'm Kiwi."

"It nice meeting you, Kiwi, but I really gotta go. Like I said, don’t wanna be late."

"Hold on! I'm a bit lost…” I reluctantly admitted. “Could you help me out?"

"Yeah, no problem. It's a small walk from here. Just follow this road and take the fou--"

I cut her off before she could finish. If I could follow directions, I’d already be at the school. “No, not like that. I meant if you could walk me there… Please.”

I couldn’t follow a GPS to school. There’s no way I’ll be able to remember what she’s saying. As embarrassing as it is, I’m no good when it comes to directions. I could walk down a one way road and still somehow get lost.

‘It’s not that bad," she chuckled.

“50 minutes…” I muttered under my breath. “I’ve been looking for 50 minutes…”

“Come on! You can’t be that lost.” she laughed again until she saw me burning red with embarrassment. “Oh. You’re serious.”

"Look, I get it that you’re lost, but I really don’t have the time to help you."

"But your bike can fit two... Maybe I can hop on the back?” I suggested.

"Yeaaah, it can. But I kinda don’t wanna do that…"

Fine. If she’s going to be like that, I have no other choice. She WILL help me. There’s no way I’m going to let her leave me here.

"Oh, ok. You can leave me here. I’m sure I’ll find a way." I forced some crocodile tears. I added on some coughs too just for added affect. "Even though you broke my phone so I can’t use a GPS… And… Ow. My head hurts REALLY bad because you CRASHED into me…”

The girl squirmed uncomfortable as I played up the drama. I was exaggerating just a tiny bit, but I tried asking nicely.

“And I also think I need to file a police report be—"

“Okay, okay! You made your point. Sheesh," Apple surrendered. "Hop on."

“How kind of you! Thanks.” I smiled, lifting onto the back.

Apple pushed off and we were zipping through the city in no time. Cold refreshing air whipped across my face as we sped down the road. We were moving pretty fast. I can’t understand why she was so worried about being late in the first place. With Apple acting as a chauffeur, I was able to some more sightseeing. I don’t know how cities usually are, but this place was unusually quiet. I imagined streets piled with traffic jams a mile long, the sounds of non-stop jackhammers and construction work, and towers that reached up to the sky. Kind of like The Big Apple.

But there was nothing like that here, just a line of houses with freshly cut lawns with a doghouse or two. A store here and there but nothing particularly impressive. This is the "big city" my parents were hyping up? Nothing here screamed "busy" to me. Granted it was larger than the town I lived by but that's hardly a fair comparison. It would be the same as comparing sparkling water to off-brand soda. Sure off-brand soda isn’t anything great but at the very least it’s soda.

I felt silly about being afraid to come here. If the school is the same as this, I'll be completely fine.

But of course things are never that simple.

It wasn’t long until Apple pulled up to the school and I got my first glimpse at Orchard.

“We’re here," she said.

I took in the building in front of me. My new school. A new beginning for Kiwi! And instantly the small well of confidence I had disappeared. Orchard was beyond massive. It had to be at least 5 farms wide and 6 tall! Okay, not the best description, but you get the point. This place is HUGE. This couldn’t possibly be right.

“Here? As in Orchard? The school?” I asked just to be sure.

“Yeah…? That’s what ‘here’ means.”

No way this is the school. Maybe I’m dizzy from the crash earlier. I closed my eyes and… Nope. It’s still here. So this IS my school.

So many questions whirled around in my head: How did I get into here? Who got me into here? How much did they PAY to get me here?

Red noticed my stunned expression and placed a calming hand on my shoulder. “You okay, Kiwi?” Apple asked. “You look pale.”

I swallowed hard, choking back my surprise. “Ye-yeah I’m fine. Just didn’t think this place was so big.”

“Yeah, it’s a little overwhelming when you first come here, but you’ll get used to it.” She shrugged.

Sure, if she says so. I doubt I could ever get used to something like this. Might as well tell me I’ll have 5-star meals every day, I can sleep past 7, and Wi-Fi will be more than 3 bars.

…Please let there be Wi-Fi with over 3 bars.

“Do you know where to go for your classes?” Apple asked.

Nope. Not a clue.

“I thought so. I’ll take you there then," Apple decided.

“Really? You were just about to leave me earlier,” I said at the risk of sounding ungrateful.

It wasn’t that long ago where she was ready to abandon me, so why the sudden change of heart.

“Yeah but since I’m already helping you, I might as well finish. I don’t like to half-ass things.” Then Apple’s voice lowered almost to a whisper. “Even though you blackmailed me.” She smiled bitterly.

I turned away from her. To be fair, it was more of a guilt trip than straight up blackmail… But let’s not correct her.

“Well, I did break your phone so I won’t mention it.”

“Sure then. Lead the way.” If she’s offering to show me around, I’ll take it. Like Grandpa said ‘If someone’s trying to make your life easier, let them’.

One thing I’ve noticed since we arrived are the looks. We’ve gotten a lot of stares from the boys, the girls, and even the staff. And, not trying to brag or anything, it’s definitely because of me. I knew that I'd get a lot of attention, but this was excessive. I guess I really did overdress for today. Hopefully Apple isn't too bothered by it. It must feel weird being at the center of attention like this, especially when you're not used to it. But it's okay, we'll get through this together.

Apple dragged me deeper and deeper into the school. Each building felt like a maze, full of twists, sharp corners, and U-turns and loop-de-loops. The pit in my stomach grew more and more as we ventured into the school. What was this? The sixth building we’ve walked through? Wasn’t she taking me to an office… Why is it so far? This place is a natural hazard for someone like me. They could have the decency to at least give out maps, you know?

Apple noticed me squirming. “Should I slow down?” she asked.

“Never better.” I gave an unsteady thumbs up. I’m starting to think I have a phobia of large spaces like a reverse claustrophobia… That's a thing, right?

We stopped in front of Room 309, the student office. Even I could tell where I was, since it said it in bright bold letters at the top. If only everything else was that obvious.

“This is the student office. Make sure to remember it, okay?” Apple said.

“Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.”

She was a real lifesaver. Despite her nearly crushing me, I’m glad I ran into her... No pun intended.

“Don’t mention it.” She shrugged.

I walked into the office which was nothing out of the ordinary surprising enough. A line of empty chairs were by the door. Quite a few too. I counted at least 10 rows. When it gets busy, it must get very busy. Also, inside the office was a water cooler, some charging stations, and a vending machine. It would be more accurate to call this place the “Student Waiting Room” than an office.

At the desk sat a much older woman. Her brown brittle hair and freckle filled face gave way to her age. Hearing me entering, her dull yellow eyes quickly peeked up from her computer before shifting back to the screen. Must be a banana.

“Hello, how can I help you, miss?” she asked in a disinterested voice.

“Hello. I just recently transferred to the school and I don’t have a schedule. I was wondering if--”

“Name?” the lady asked without looking up from the computer.

“Kiwi. Hayward Kiwi.”

“Hayward Kiwi… I see you. One moment, I’ll get your schedule.” She said before disappearing around the corner.

With the office being empty, I didn’t have to wait very long before she returned. She handed me my schedule along with a brand new ID. I would need it for things like lunch and using the library. It had one of my older pictures from back at the farm. Look, I’m even wearing overalls in the photo! Ugh, couldn’t my parents sent them a better picture to use? I gave my schedule a small glance. I decided not to look all of my classes at the same time, it’d just confused me. My first class is in room 511. So building 5, room 11, right? That’s easy enough. Cool. Time to head out.

“Thank you, ma'am."

“Oh. And you’re aware that you don’t have proper school attire, correct?” She pointed a frail finger at my outfit.

“Yes, sorry. My uniform hasn’t come in yet,” I explained.

“That’s fine then. Have a nice day,” she said abruptly before returning to whatever she was doing.

I left the office and now I was in the hallway. Alone. Without Apple to help me. Okay, no problem. I’ll find my own way around the school. Can’t be too hard, right? Let’s take a look around, see where I am. Hmm… I’m in a bright green building full of rooms and stairs… Just like the last three buildings I passed on the way here. Who am I kidding? I’m screwed. Maybe the office lady can give me some directions or something.

 _Haa…_ This is gonna suck.

“Are you done looking all pitiful, Kiwi?”

Whoa! Where did she come from! Nearly jumped out of my skin.

“Apple!? You can't sneak up on me like that. I almost died!" I took a deep breathe, trying to steady my heart rate. "You’re still here? I thought for sure you'd have left by now."

“I said I would help you, didn’t I?” she smiled. "There's plenty of the school I haven't showed you yet. Unless you don’t need the help…?"

“Well, if you’re offering.” I felt a little bad that I was taking up so much of her time, but she seems okay with it..

“Cool. So next is the cafeteria. We still have enough time for breakfast.”

Apple failed to mention that the “cafeteria” was less cafeteria and more high end restaurant. I don’t know what I was expecting. It would be strange if this was normal and everything else wasn’t. So in a way, this makes sense. There were several trays of exotic foods arranged in neat displays. Most of them I’ve never knew existed. Do you know any of these foods? Breakfast pasta? Bear claws? Ox-tongue pastry? I didn't know breakfast could be so complicated.

“Nice!” Apple shouted. “We made it in time. They still have parfaits. Let’s go!”

What's with all the excitement? Don't tell me this was why she was so worried about being late. She yanked me into the line and had me snatch up the last four remaining parfaits. No clue why we need so many. When I asked why, she gave me a blank look like I was stupid. She paid for everything and picked out a table way in the back. She was pretty adamant about sitting away from everyone else. I figured the stares were probably getting to her. Can’t say I was comfortable with the staring either.

Finally, it was just me and Apple, sitting at a table with four whole parfaits. I took one even though I wasn’t that hungry. It felt like a waste to have so many and not eat them. I took a spoonful of the creamy vanilla yogurt, making sure to get plenty of the pickled strawberries and granola bits. I brought the spoon to my mouth and took a bite. The light drizzle of strawberry syrup, enhancing the already rich flavors of fresh fruits and…

I can’t do it. It’s too sweet. I don’t like sweets.

"It's good, right?" Apple looked at my expectantly, her red eyes sparkling like jewels. She must love this stuff.

I let her down gently. "It's okay... A bit sweet to be honest.”

"Yup. Yup." She nodded. “That's what makes it so great! I'm glad you like it too."

Did... Did she ignore me?

"So where are you from?" she asked spooning her breakfast.

"Wh-what do you mean? I’m from… Here… Like everyone else."

She rolled her eyes, seeing through my admittedly bad lie. Still, did I really stand out that much? I was trying my best to blend in.

“You’re not fooling anyone like that,” she said.

Apple’s spoon clanked inside the empty glass scooping out the last bit of yogurt. Once she finished with that one, it was onto number 2.

“Was it really that easy…?” I asked.

“Very.” She paused to take small bites of her breakfast, alternating between talking to me and stuffing her face. Sometimes doing both. “Nobody from the city would dress like th— Ah, I don’t mean that in a bad way. You dress a bit unorthodox is all. Plus, you were looking everything like…”

Apple held her eyes open as wide as she could. She almost looked like an owl. Then she started going "oooo" and "ahhh".

”... That's nothing like me."

"It is." She countered.

"...Okay, fine. You got me. I was raised in the country. I lived on a farm with my grandparents," I sighed. "I was trying to hide it."

"Well, you didn't do a good job." She pushed aside her glass and went on to the last parfait. At the rate she's going, she'll probably eat mine too.

Here I was thinking that I was doing a good job. The whole time I was making a complete fool of myself. I wonder who else knows about me? Do the rest of the kids here have a clue? No, no… I think I’m fine. I just need to be a lot more mindful on the way I act.

“Hey Red.”

While I was lost in thought, a green haired girl approached us, calling for Apple. Well, I assume she means Apple since she’s the only red one between us.

“Hello!” I waved at the new girl.

Finally acknowledging me, she gave me a quick glance before turning back to Apple.

“Red, who is this tacky fruit?”

What did she just say? Tacky? ME?

“Green!" Apple gave the girl a quick jab that had her clutching her stomach. "I'm so sorry about that. This is my stupid sister, Green Apple. Everyone calls us Red and Green for short."

I see. Looking between them, you can see a lot of similarities. The biggest difference between the two were in their eyes. Red's eyes had a shine and directness that made her seem honest and reliable. Her sister’s eyes were dull and lacked the firmness Red had. Instead she looked plain old lazy.

But I could be wrong… Though I don't really feel like I am.

“And this is Kiwi, Green. She comes from the country so be nice to her. She's new here ” Apple explained.

Hey… She does know that I was HIDING that I was from the country, right? Well, it probably didn’t matter since Green was a lot more interested in Red's parfait than me.

“Would it kill you to pay attention?" Red sighed. "Stop eyeing my food. Get your own.”

“I was listening. You said the tacky fruit was a country bumpkin.”

“You know the 'bumpkin' is here, right?" I spoke up.

Green Apple's lips curled into a small smile that told little of her intentions. “I’m just messing with you. It’s nice to meet you. I like your jacket.”

This girl is really weird. I really don’t trust her, but I guess she seems harmless enough. Well, when Red’s around at least.

“Nice to meet you too. I guess…”

“Oh! I forgot to ask – where is your first class, Kiwi?” Red asked.

I pulled my schedule out of my bag, letting the sisters take a peek at it. “It's Room 511.”

“Nice. You’re right by us. We’re going to 519. We can walk together.” She smiled.

"Sure then." It looks like I'll be relying on Red a little longer.

“We should start heading out now then," Green said. "When classes start, the hallway gets pretty busy. She’ll probably get lost in the crowd.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Red agreed.

I chuckled a little. Lost in the crowd? Isn't that just a bit silly? It's not like we're going to a concert.

“But it wouldn’t be that hard to find her even if she did." Green added. "She sticks out too much. She's like a giant weed in a garden.”

What’s up with this girl? Does she have a teasing fetish? I literally just met her!

“Well, that is true.” Red nodded, playing along. “It would be harder to find her if she was at circus.”

I stared at Red awestruck. Did she really just say that?

"Wow, Red. Too far." Green shook her head as if she wasn't the one who started it. "But you aren't wrong."

Alright, I think I heard enough. I'll find my own way to class.

“Wait, Kiwi! I’m just joking!”

I heard Red calling behind me, but I was already heading out the door and I had no intention of turning back. Of course that would quickly prove to be a mistake.

I wandered the halls, searching for the right building. The whole time the sisters chased behind me, trying to stop me.

“Come on, Kiwi. Don’t be like that!”

In the middle of my search, the bell rang. And it didn’t take long before the halls became flooded with students. I know Green said it got busy, but that was a major downplay. The hallway was an absolute mess of people, stuffed shoulder to shoulder. One false move and you'd get swept away into the sea of students. It was a free for all. Every fruit for themselves. Caught off-guard by the rush, I got swept around in the current. At this point, it would be easier to swim against a waterfall.

"Kiwi! Take my hand!" Red screamed.

I reached out narrowing missing her hand. "I'm trying, but I can't reach!"

She tried her best to fish me out of the current, but it was too much for her and she ended up getting washed along with me. Green was pretty okay with how things were going since she laughed the entire time we were struggling to get out. By the time the rushed slowed enough for us to escape, all three of us were 3 buildings from where we needed to be. Obviously, we all ended up having to run to our classes.

 _Sigh_. Late on my first day, covered in sweat, and got hit by a bike. I really can’t get a break today.

_Knock. Knock._

“Hello, hello. How can I help you?” The door opened and I’m greeted with a smile from my new teacher. A tall bespectacled man with faintly yellow hair. He looked pretty young --- Late 20s if I had to guess.

“Good morning. I’m the new transfer student. I happened to get a bit lost on the way here…”

I took a breath and braced myself for the inevitable earful I was about to get. But instead the already smiling man’s face somehow brightened even more.

“Oh! Welcome to my class! Since today is your first day, I won’t bother you about being late but please be mindful of the time, next time.”

This was going oddly well.

“I’m sorry it won’t happen again,” I said.

“I’ll take your word for it then.” He smiled. “Oh and you know that you’re not wearing your… Well, I’m sure you know. Come on. Let’s get you introduced to the class.”

I finally made it into class, but whatever excitement I had before was long gone. This morning was exhausting, but maybe things will get better? The teacher seems nice enough. I’m not counting on it though. Usually my bad days don’t turn good. They just get a little less bad.

“Hello class! I’d like to introduce another student. Make sure that you all treat her nicely.” He motioned me to come in. “This is Miss Hayward Kiwi.”

All eyes on me. Once again I was the center of attention.. I pushed my anxiety to the back of my mind and put on my best smile.

“Hello. Nice to meet you.” I greeted the class.

“Most of the seats have been filled up. But I believe there’s an open seat between Miss Cavendish and Miss Earliglow?”

“Yes, Mr. Dew. There’s a seat right here.” A soft voice answered from the back of the class.

“Great! Just head to the back, Ms. Hayward. It’s in the last row. Can’t miss it.”

At least I was at back of the class. I can disappear until the bell rings. Nice.

But I wasn’t prepared for the bombshells waiting for me at the back.

“Hello.” “Good morning.” My two neighbors said.

I looked around to make sure I had the right desk. Why am I sitting between THESE two? These girls are gorgeous! To the left of me, facing towards the window, is one of the most adorable girl I’ve ever seen. Short with cute freckles and bright pink eyes. Her hair was curled into pretty little locks and adorned with stylish accessories. Her hair is so shiny too! And it’s not my dull dirt mound of brown and green but pink and green! How do I compete with that?

“Hello, I’m Strawberry,” she said.

“Hello…” Ha… Even her voice is cuter than mine…

And this other girl… She might as well be a damn model!

She wasn’t regular pretty. Like a “I take care of myself ” pretty, but “people are paid to make me look pretty” pretty. Was she was groomed to be this way? Her skin was flawless without a single bump or blemish. And if Strawberry’s hair was shining, hers was practically glowing. Long beautiful blonde hair, shining golden eyes… She has to be some form of aristocrat, or maybe a noble who died and reincarnated as a fancier noble.

Either way, this isn’t fair.

“I’m Banana. It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she smiled.

“Thank you… Likewise…” 

Why did I even try to dress up for today… Nobody told me I’d be sitting between Aphrodite and Freya... In my old town, this outfit would be turning heads! Well… It’s turning heads here but not in the way I want.

No! It’s not me. It’s them! They’re just abnormally pretty. I still look perfectly fine. There’s nothing wrong with being the bronze metal.

…Ouch, I just hurt my own feelings.

“Hello everyone and welcome to a brand new school year. I’m sure quite a few of you know me already, but for those of you who don’t, my name is Mr. Honeydew, Mr. Dew, or Mr. H. I do have a doctorate so Dr. works as well.” Mr. Dew laughed to himself.

Was there a joke in there? If so, I didn’t get and neither did the rest of the class.

“Anyway, I’d like everyone to introduce themselves to the class.” Mr. H continued. “But I don’t think it’s enough to just say your name, so I have a question for each of you: What do you think makes a good fruit? Let’s start with… You!”

Being at the back of the class, I get to think about my answer. What makes a good fruit…? I guess the sweetness? Nobody wants to eat a nasty fruit, right? But then again, what’s sweet to some isn’t that sweet to others… So maybe the taste is the better choice? Ugh, I hope I don’t embarrass myself…

“Hey, Kiwi.” Strawberry tapped my shoulder. “You look nervous. Don’t worry, there’s no way you can embarrass yourself more than you already have with that outfit!"

"Uhh, Thanks?" Was that supposed to be encouraging or an insult? She sounds so friendly that I can’t tell the difference. Getting mixed signals here.

“I suppose it’s my turn to introduce myself.” Banana said.

Before I knew it, Mr. H was already calling on the back of the class. I didn't think it would happen so fast. I'm not ready yet!

“My name is Cavendish Banana and this will be my second year here at Orchard. I am very happy to meet all of you. ‘What makes a good fruit?', you ask? I’d have to say variety. Within every family of fruit, comes many forms of flavors, many of which you wouldn’t expect. Wouldn’t it be amazing to have a grape that tasted like an apple? Or a plum that tasted like grapefruit?”

That’s a pretty unique answer. I wouldn’t have ever thought of something like that.

“Interesting Ms. Cavendish," Mr. H nodded, "but I think it’d become a bit frustrating if every fruit tasted like another. You don’t bite into a chocolate bar and expect lemon after all. Next is you Ms. Hayward.”

Well, here goes nothing.

“Umm, hello everyone. My name is Hayward Kiwi. This is my first year here or at a school this large... I’m used to much smaller places… I think what makes a good fruit is…”

Okay, brain! Now’s the time to say something smart. Show everyone that you’re not some slow farm girl!

“…the taste.”

“…”

The room became quiet as the entire class waited for something more. Hell, even I was expecting something more. But instead, the teacher and I shared an intimate moment of awkward silence. Come on, brain! What’s the point of having you if you’re not going to do anything! 

“Is that it, Ms. Hayward?” He coughed,

“Yes.” I sat back down.

Well, I blew that. Good job Kiwi. You sure showed everyone! ...I think I’ll just fade away in the back of class for the rest of the day.

“…I see.”

Huh? I turned my head to Banana who quietly murmured to herself, musing over my words as if I had some great revelation. What is there to “see”? That I’m not very bright?

“It seems that I still have much to learn.” Banana smiled to herself, satisfied with her conclusion.

…What is that even supposed to mean?

“Last but not least, it's you , Ms. Earliglow!”

“Good morning, everyone. I don't think I need an introduction, but I am Earliglow Strawberry. I’m sure that name is familiar to anyone who doesn’t live under a rock. What makes a good fruit? That’s easy. Style.”

Style? I don’t get what she means.

“Umm, Strawberry.” I interrupted. “But what do you mean by style?”

“I mean the look, obviously," she said dismissingly. "That’s what most important. Nobody wants to buy an ugly fruit. It’s more important to make them look as tasty as possible.”

She puffed out her chest, seemingly pleased with her answer. I should have left it at that. Maybe it's the farm in me speaking, but I couldn't stay quiet.

“But isn’t the flavor more important? Don’t you want to please the customer?”

For the first the time, her bright pink eyes dimmed. Her fake smile folding into a light frown.

“What? That’s not important as long as we can sell the fruit. Who’s going to put an ugly, bruised bumpy peach into their mouth? Not me. Doesn’t matter how sweet it is.”

“That’s not right though!" I shouted louder than I meant to. "You shouldn’t try to rip people off. They won’t want to buy from you anymore."

“Pfft. Please if you sell to enough people, who cares if a few of them aren't happy.” She laughed.

“No! That's wrong!"

Before I could try to counter what she said, Mr. Dew cut the argument short, deciding things were getting a little too heated.

“That’s enough you two.”

I got a bit carried away. I shouldn’t be arguing with someone on the first day of class. But that girl… the way she thinks isn’t right.

“I’m glad you're both passionate. This just proves the purpose of this little question. To show you how people differ on what is good. There isn't necessarily a wrong answer, but a variety of what can be considered 'good'," he explained. "In this regard, both Ms. Earliglow and Hayward are correct."

Even with the teacher's explanation, I couldn't understand how Strawberry could be anything but wrong. How is not caring about your customers good?

"Regardless," Mr. Dew continued, "a lot of hard work and dedication goes towards making quality goods whether they’re novelties or for the general consumer. That’s exactly what you’ll be learning here in Orchard. Welcome to the Academy, students.”

The class continued on with Mr. Dew discussing some general rules, school policies, an overview of the class. Just a bunch of simple stuff that we needed to know. Thankfully, he kept everything short and to the point. At the end of his explanation, the class was given some free time to talk and get to know each other.

The first to group up were old friends from the previous year. Followed by awkward new classmate conversations, some of them even chatting with the teacher. Finally, there were some stragglers who either weren’t that great at making friends or nobody wanted to talk to. Which just so happened to include me, Strawberry, and Banana. Though I don’t know what side of that I fall into. Maybe both?

Strawberry was pretty uninterested in talking to anyone and was more into whatever she was doing on her phone. Not that anyone would want to talk to her with how rotten her personality is.

I did notice the other students giving her side eye glances and whispering. I mean they did at the beginning of class, but I thought that was because she was pretty. But there's obviously something more to her. She did say she was known. I wonder if it has something to do with that.

But that’s Strawberry, I personally felt a bit sad that nobody wanted to talk to me, but what did I expect? Not only did I make myself look stupid when it was my turn to talk, I up getting into an argument in the middle of class. Haa.. Of course I’m being avoided. I'd avoid the weird fruit too. But still, it’s not like I bite.

What’s really weird is Banana. I would’ve thought she would have a flock of people around her. Or, at the very least, the boys. She’s super pretty and nice. So why is she just as alone as I am?

I took a glance at her. She’s just facing forward, completely silent. It's a bit creepy. Not gonna lie.

“Excuse me, Miss Hayward Kiwi, was it?” she suddenly asked.

I nearly jumped out of my skin.

Did she catch me staring? No, I think It's fine. Just play it cool.

I cleared my throat. “Yeah?”

“I really enjoyed your earlier discussion. It was very informative.”

Is she talking about my answer to teacher’s question? I didn’t say much of anything...

“It wasn’t anything great…” I shrugged off the compliment. There wasn't anything to praise but Banana disagreed.

“No, no. I think it was wonderful. A very simple way of thinking but entirely correct. Or at least, I think so.” She smiled.

“Err… Not sure how I feel about the ‘simple’ part but thanks.”

“I apologize. I meant simple as in basic, not stupid.” Banana said. "Simplicity is good."

_Sigh._

Even when I’m not being insulted, why does it always feel like I am. You know, now that I think about it, it’s kind of always been like this. Even back in middle school… Am I that much of a target?

“Either way, I admire you.” Banana said with complete sincerity.

Normally, you thanked someone who was praising you so brazenly, but was what I said even so great? I couldn’t help but ask why she felt that way.

“Not many people are so vocal about their beliefs, especially in front of a crowd. The fact you spoke out despite that is commendable.” Banana politely smiled.

When she said that, I finally understood what she was talking about: my argument with Strawberry. A wave of embarrassment washed over me again. I dove my head into my arms, trying the hide the deep blush that spread across my face.

“Growing good food is something I’m passionate about so I couldn’t help but say something…”I muttered with my face hidden. I’m sure she could barely hear me, but she nodded along nonetheless.

“I see. Hopefully I can become the same. I look forward to working with you this year, Miss Hayward.”

Banana is nice and everything… But she’s too formal. There’s nothing wrong with being polite, but at this point, this is more like becoming business partners than friends. It just feels wrong.

“Hey." I lifted my head. "You know that you can just call me Kiwi, right?”

“Oh, I see. Sorry. Then I look forward to workin--”

“No, no, no.” I stopped her. “No more of that. We’re friends, right?”

When I said that, Banana looked surprised, shocked almost. Did… Did I do something wrong?

“Was that a bit too fast…?” I asked. “Was it a bit too soon to call us friends? Would acquaintances be better?”

“No. It’s fine.” Banana shook her head. “I’m looking forward to our friendship, Kiwi.” A warm smile crossed Banana’s face. Not the polite ones from before but a genuine smile.

Even though it was such a small thing, it felt like the boundary between us closed just a little. Despite all the blunders and times I made a complete joke of myself, I was able to become friends with Banana. Maybe I was wrong about today being a bad day? Because, at this moment, things seemed pretty good.

“Same here,” I said, returning Banana’s kind smile. 


	2. The Bad Apple

For the rest of class, we talked about ourselves and how we ended up at Orchard. I was hesitant to tell her about living on the farm. I didn’t think there was anything interesting to say, but still she listened quietly and nodded along. I told her a lot of silly things about the farm, my grandparents, my favorite pig, everything. It was nice to talk about my home without feeling self-conscious. Even if only for a little while.

Banana’s past was a definitely a lot more interesting. Her dad was a huge fruit distributor and a co-owner of a company named Fruit Fantasy so her family is really _really_ well off. With that being the case, it’s a given she’d be able to come to a school like this. Me on the other hand… That’s something I’ll have to ask my parents.

But here’s the real surprise, the other owner of the company was Strawberry’s dad. That had to mean that they had to be friends at one point, or at least acquaintances. I can’t imagine them never meeting. So why aren’t they talking now?

“Hey, Banana.”

I tried asking a bit about Strawberry and their relationship. I didn’t want to be too nosey, but I couldn’t help being a bit curious.

“We were friends at one point.” Banana spoke flatly, not going into detail at all.

“Umm, did something happen?” I asked.

“Yes.” Another curt response.

“So… What happened?”

“Kiwi, it’s not something that I feel comfortable speaking about. Surely, you understand that?”

“I’m sorry, Banana. I didn’t mean to--”

“It’s fine,” she said sharply.

It wasn’t fine.

Banana went back to facing forward quietly for the rest of the class. Any attempts to talk to her were met with short one word answers: ‘Yes’, ‘No’, ‘Okay’. There was no getting to her. After a while, I just gave up.

Stupid! Why did I keep bothering her about Strawberry? As soon as I make a friend, I piss them off. Good job, Kiwi. That’s just what I’d expect from you.

But still, what’s Strawberry’s relationship with Banana. I can’t really see how they’d mesh. Maybe there’s a nicer side to Strawberry and I just need to get to know her better?

Just as I thought that, Strawberry and I made eye contact. Instantly, her face swirled into the sourest frown I’ve ever seen. I’ve seen people happier to step in manure… I take back what I said. There can’t be a good side to her.

With no phone and nobody to talk to, I silently waited for class to end, sat between two girls who didn’t like me. It took a while (15 minutes), but the bell finally decided that it was done holding me hostage and released me from captivity.

“Okay everyone. Hurry onto your next class. I’ll see you all tomorrow.” Mr. Dew waved.

Not a moment later, Strawberry was up and gone, disappearing without a word or slightest acknowledgement to anyone. Not even her old friend Banana.

Banana quietly gathered her stuff, giving me a small nod before disappearing in the crowd. 

Not even a goodbye. What did my grandma say “always lead with your best foot”? My best foot huh? I must’ve been born with two left feet then.

 _Sigh…_ No point in beating myself up over it. All I can do is apologize next time I see her.

And with that failure, I scooped up my bag and headed out to the next class.

My schedule says that my next class is in Room 529. Which just so happens to be just upstairs… I think. At least I don’t have to worry about being late this time. I wonder if I’ll run into Apple on the way.

“Yo Kiwi!”

An arm wrapped around my neck. It was Apple alright, but not the one I was expecting… Or looking for. 

“Oh. Apple. What a pleasant surprise.” I said robotically.

“Did you miss me that much? That’s sweet.” She gave a devilish smile. “And call me Green. Apple is my sister.”

I tilted my head. What does she mean?

“Aren’t you both Apple?” I asked.

She pulled away from me.

“Yeah but people usually call me Green. When people call for Apple, they mean Red. It makes sense since she is more popular me. Heck, a lot of the time people don’t even know we’re related.” Green continued speaking in a matter-of-factly tone. “It’s alright though. It’s what happens when you’re the bad apple of the bunch – no pun intended. It comes with the territory.”

Even while she said those depressing things, she continued to flash the same lazy smile. I don’t know what happened between her and her sister, but she shouldn’t be putting herself down like that.

“Apple... You sho-“

“Hey…” Apple stepped in close. Uncomfortable close.

I stepped back. She followed.

“I just asked you to stop calling me Apple, didn’t I?” She said uncharacteristically serious.

“Umm… Yeah?”

“So stop calling me that! Next time you do, I’ll stick a cinnamon stick in your nose, got it?”

I nodded. If she felt that strongly about it, then I won’t bother her. Plus, I think she’s serious about her the cinnamon thing.

“Good.” She spun on her heel and continued forward, acting as whimsical as ever.

What a weird girl. It’s always so hard to know what she’s thinking. I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to being around her.

“So how was your first meeting with Earl?” Green asked, ignoring the last ten seconds.

Who is she talking about? I didn’t meet anyone named ‘Earl’. Is there anyone named that?

“Ah, my bad. I forgot you’re new.” Green said, noticing my confusion. “I’m talking about Strawberry. Everyone usually calls her Earl because she acts like she’s royalty. That and she hates being called Earl.”

“Wait. How did you know I had a class with her?” I asked.

“Saw her walk out your class.” She answered.

Oh. Simple enough.

“Well, about that... I kind of got into an argument with her already. Hahaha…”

A huge grin stretched across Green’s face. “Starting a fight on your first day. That was quick. Didn’t take you for a troublemaker.”

“No, that’s not it! I—”

“Calm down. Sheesh, I was joking. I’m pretty sure she had it coming anyway. If anything, you probably just did what everyone wanted to.” She shrugged.

I realized something. If Green was here last year, she should be able to tell me what’s the deal with Strawberry.

“App—Uh, I mean, Green. You went here last year, right?”  
  


“Yeah? Both me and Red. What about it?” She blinked.

Finally, I can get some answers! But…

“…Kiwi?”

But is it really any of my business...? All those people were so nasty. Talking about her right in her face… Do I really want to be one of those people? Maybe it’s best if I leave whatever happened with her last year back there where it belongs.

“Never mind Green. It’s nothing.” I shook my head.

Green looked at me suspiciously, doubting my “nothing”.

“Well, if you say so.” But she dropped it.

_RING—RING—RING---_

The bell rung.

“There goes the first bell. Guess we were talking too much,” Green said. “We better hurry up.” 

“Oh, you’re right! Let’s go.”

Green and I pushed our way through the crowded hallway. Somehow even with my class being up the stairs, it still felt like it was a mile away. This class rush is honestly ridiculous and I was supposed to do this every day?

By the time I made it into class, I only had a minute to spa--

_Rriiinnggg!_

Well, I made it to class.

“Sometimes I forget how hard it is to get through the crowd.” Green sighed.

Wait, what is she doing here? Did she follow me here? A shiver creeped down my spine. I don’t think she’d do that. But I wouldn’t put it pass her.

“Apple, why are you here…?” I asked.

“What with that nasty look? This is my class, you know? You didn’t think I was just following you for fun, did you? That’s just weird.”

Oh. We have the same class. Why didn’t I think of that?

“Of course not! It’s 100% normal and common to share classes! Hahaha!”

“You’re really weird, you know that?” Green shook her head.

“…Rich coming from you.” I grumbled.

“And did you call me Apple! I told you to stop calling me that!” Green shouted.

“Hey!” The teacher snapped. “Girl with the strange outfit and her friend. Stop fooling around and take a seat.”

“Sorry.” “Sorry!” Green and I apologized.

With the two of us barely making it into class, there weren’t very many seats left for us to choose from. I ended up taking a chair near the windows behind some girl. Green Apple took the seat directly behind me. Don’t know if I’d consider good luck or bad.

“I think that this the entire class more or less,” the teacher said from behind her computer. “So allow me to introduce myself. I am Ms. Victoria Pineapple. And I will be your instructor for this course. Call me Ms. Pineapple, Missus P, or Victoria if you so desire. Feel free to ask me any questions. Within reason, of course.” A small girl said as she stepped around the desk.

No way this is our teacher. She’s so tiny. If I had to guess, I’d said she was no tall than 5’1.

“Excuse me, Miss Victoria? How tall are you?” A student asked.

“I’m 4’11.” She answered.

Well, there goes my answer.

“Victoria, how old are you?” Another asked.

“I am in my 20’s. 26 to be exact.” She responded.

“Whaaattt!?”The class roared in surprised.

“I don’t believe it,” Green said wide-eyed.

I could hardly believe it myself. Her tan skin looked so young and smooth. Her face was round and clear of any bumps and blemishes. And she was small enough that anyone could’ve mistaken her for a child. But at the same time, she held the air of an adult. Her yellow eyes were fiercely sharp, giving her a no nonsense look. Her outfit was also very conservative, composed of a knee-length dress and scarf. Along with her long green hair tied into a neat bun, she had a very professional vibe. 

It was a little jarring. Kind of like seeing a kid playing dress up. A really, REALLY good game of dress up. Though I doubt anyone would say that to her face.

“If that’s the end of your questions, then allow me to explain the course...” Miss Victoria continued, unbothered by the class’s reaction.

Essentially, this course was going to be a mix of world history and social studies – half and half according to Miss Victoria. And that’s where I checked out. I’m sure that there are plenty of people who enjoy things like history but not me. I much rather go out and tend to animals or crops. Nothing about sitting around learning about old men was interesting to me. And with how stern Miss Victoria seems, I can’t see this class being anything but awful.

 _Haa…_ This is going to suck.

“I’m sorry. Am I being an annoyance to you?” Miss Victoria snapped.

Crap, did she hear me?.

“Ah, I’m sorr—”

**_Crunch. Crunch. Smack._ **

Who is that eating so hard? It’s so loud.

“Your name was… Clementine Orange, right?” Miss Victoria said to the girl sat in front of me.

It’s her?

I glanced over the girl. Orange hair done in a bob cut. Dark orange eyes… She was orange as an orange can be. She had a rather “round” appearance – in both her face and body. Not to say she was unattractive. She was more childlike than anything else.

‘Geez, look at her go. And I thought Red had an appetite...” Green commented behind me.

Orange nodded innocently. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I don’t mind students having a light snack in my class.” Miss Victoria approached the girl, visibly annoyed. It might have even been a bit intimidating if she wasn’t so small. “But can you at least eat quietly?”

“I’m sorry, Miss. I missed breakfast so I was feeling a bit hungrier than usual.” Orange awkwardly laughed.

“I’ll never understand how you kids can eat chips and candy so early in the morning.” Ms. P sighed. “You really need to practice better dieting.”

“I do!” Orange stood up from the desk, scaring the life out of the teacher. “Look at my chips. They aren’t your standard greasy bags of salted crisps. These are VEGETABLE chips. Made from mostly REAL VEGETABLES.”

The room fell silent. Ms. Pineapple paused, unsure on how to respond to the random outburst. That poor teacher… How do you respond to something like that? Suddenly, my brain decided to remind me of my own outburst in 1st period… Is this what I looked like to everyone else? A burning shame rose to my chest again.

“Umm… I’m glad you’re looking for healthier alternatives,” Pineapple said trying to regain herself.

“Thanks!” Orange smiled, oblivious to what was happening. “I’ve been trying to lose weight lately, so I’ve been switching things up. Here, let me give you some chips! I think you’ll like them.” The girl pulled out 3 more bags and gave… Well, forced them onto the teacher.

“Those are some of my favorites: Spicy celery and ranch. Honey Barbeque Corn. Salt and Vinegar Potato Crisps.”

Those don’t sound like they’re that healthy. And how is the last one any different from regular chips?

“Thank you, Orange…”

“Oh and don’t worry about me. I have plenty more for lunch later.” Orange opened her bag and revealed the massive amounts of junk food packed inside. It looked like something tried pushing a wardrobe into a single suitcase, it seemed absolutely ready to burst. I don’t even think she can fit any books in there.

“That is quite the understatement…” By now Ms. Pineapple’s mild confusion had turn into full born concern. “Are you sure you need that many?

“Well… No. I always try to bring a few extras to share with friends.” Orange beamed a bright childlike smile. Ms. Pineapple opened her mouth to say something. But ultimately, she drew a blank. So she reluctantly took the chips and continued talking about her class.

When she finally finished, there was a little over 20 minutes left in class. So with the remaining time, she allowed a bit of free time for everyone to get to know each other. A good number of the girls started chatting with the teacher, asking about her hair, her skincare, where she’s from… Those sorts of things. Then old friends… Blah, blah, blah. It was pretty much the same as 1st period. The only difference being that I have Green with me this time.

“So Kiki. How do you like the class?” Green frowned.

Disgusting. Did she really call me that? Makes me wanna puke.

“Could you not call me that? It’s not like I need a nickname.” I frowned. “And we didn’t really do anything, what’s there to like?”

I already don’t like history, so there’s that. Everything will depend on how Ms. Victoria is. She seems pretty stern, but maybe she’s like my grandpa: A softie at heart.

“I’m actually looking forward to this class a lot.” Green said surprisingly.

“Really? I didn’t take you for the working type.” I admitted.

Green frowned. “That’s mean. I’m not as lazy as you think. Sometimes when Red goes out for a jog, I go with her and watch.” She bragged.

“That’s not much to brag about,” I countered.

“But, man, these people sure like to talk.” Green whistled.

No kidding. As soon as we had free time, it wasn’t too long before the gossiping began. It’s nothing unexpected. To be fair, it would be weirder if nobody talked about Orange. But still, couldn’t they wait until they left class? Having all these people talking about her must really be getting to her….

“Hahaha!” Orange laughed.

Annd she’s watching a movie on her phone. She lives in her own world, huh? Must be nice.

_Grrr…._

Someone’s stomach grumbled.

“Sorry about that,” Green said, slightly embarrassed. “I missed breakfast so I can’t help it. I don’t think I’ll last until lunch.”  
  


“Maybe you could ask Orange for some chips? She has plenty.” I joked.

“Worth a shot,” Green shrugged. “Hey Orange.”

Whoa! I didn’t think she/d actually ask her. Doesn’t she think it’s just a tiny bit weird to ask a stranger for their food?

“Orange... Orange!” Green kept calling for Orange but was completely ignored. Green slowly became louder and louder as she grew increasingly annoyed. If this keeps up, she’ll practically be screaming.

This is stupid…

I tapped Orange’s shoulder. “Hello?”

Orange paused her video and flipped around in her seat, staring directly at me.

“Hiyah,” she said.

Her eyes were a mixture of curiosity and expectation, just like a child. I turned away from her intense gaze. I felt uncomfortable. Like I was being inspected.

“Sorry. She wanted to talk you.” I pointed to Green.

“Sup?” Green grinned.

“Hiyah?” she said again with a questioning tone.

“My name is Green Apple. I was wondering if I could get a bag of your chips.” Green didn’t mess around and got straight to the point.

Orange gave an empty-eyed blink.

“No." she said.

Green tilted her head.

“No?” Green asked.

“No," Orange repeated.

“What do you mean ‘No’? Didn’t you bring enough to share with the class?”

“No," Orange shook her head. “I only share with my friends.”

“I’m your classmate that should be close enough, right?” Green tried reasoning with the girl.

“Hmm…” Orange tapped her chin. “Then what’s my name?”

“Orange.” Green answered.

Orange shook her head. “No, my full name.”

“Clementine Orange…” Green gritted her teeth.

“And my middle name.”

“How am I supposed to know that?” Green yelled.

I laughed. Green usually did all the laughing so it was nice to see her messed for a change.

“What’s so funny, Kiwi? Huh?” Green snarled.

Ugh, I got caught…

“Well," Orange continued, "I would give you some chips. Buuutttt they’re diet chips. And you don’t look like you need them, so no.”

“But you have a bag full of them…” Green was practically ready to explode. The girl was very difficult to deal with. I could see why the teacher gave up talking with her. I’m getting a headache and I’m not even talking to her.

“But I’ll give some to you!” Orange said before plopped a few bags of chips onto my desk -- which Green instantly stole. “Enjoy!” she smiled.

“Why are you giving these to me?” I asked. “I didn't want them.”

“Hmm? Aren’t you going to diet too?” Orange tilted her head.

What? Is she calling me fat? I only weigh 140! Okay, sure. Maybe it’s a tiny bit heavier than some other girls, but you can’t categorize everybody the same way. I’m definitely a healthy size.

I heard Green snickering behind me. There’s no way I could be any heavier than this glutton behind me. Look at her sucking down those chips. And I’m the fat one…

I tried my best not to let it get to me. “I don’t need a diet. I’m fine,” I said.

“Oh, I’m sorry then. It’s just that your jacket is so huge so I thought you were too.”

“What? A jacket doesn’t need to be skin tight, you know?” I laughed.

“But it’s really REALLY big," Orange said.

Green nodded along. “She’s not lying.”

Nobody asked for your opinion, Green! Just shut up and eat the chips.

“Hmm… It’s kinda like a bucket of ice cream,” Orange continued.

What is she getting at?

“It’s like opening up the fridge for some ice cream but when you open the bucket, there’s only a spoonful. That wouldn’t make sense, right? You'd say, 'Why would anyone leave this in here?' Get it?" Orange puffed out her chest, proud of her explanation.

It was a bunch of gibberish but somehow Green understood her..

Green continued where Orange left off. “Kiwi think of it like this. If you have a candy bar, the wrapping tells you how big the bar is. So naturally, she thinks that when you take off the jacket, you’ll be just as big.”

‘Naturally’ she says.

“Yeah!” Orange agreed.

Ooohhh. I get it now!

They're both stupid.

“But that doesn’t make sense. That’s like knowing how many chips you have just by seeing the bag.” I countered.

“…”

The two girls stared at me quietly, not having an answer to what I said.

“…So how big is your jacket?" Orange asked.

So they’re just going ignore me when they’re wrong…

Green pulled the tag on the back of my jacket.

“3 XL…? Why do you have such a large hoodie? Are you stupid?”

Why is it that everyone has to pick on my outfit? Can’t I just wear what I want? Despite trying not to get riled up, my irritation seeped through.

“I like baggy clothes, so what? You love eating. I don’t judge you for that. With the way you eat, you probably fit the jacket better than me.” I mocked.

“This and that are two different things. Don’t compare my gourmet eating to trash fashion,” Green said in a defensive tone.

“WHAT!?”

“Wow! A 3 XL!” Orange butted in, not reading the mood. “Then when you take off the jacket, you must be super squishy like pudding!”

Orange cheerfully reached over and poked me in the stomach. And in an instant her bright persona disappeared, all that was left was a look of disgust and betrayal.

“Flat,” she frowned, turning back into her seat.

Green and I stopped arguing, confused by Orange’s unexpected personality flip.

”Orange?” I called.

“Leave me alone, you twig.”

Orange’s voice was uncharacteristically cold. Her soft orange eyes were empty and dark and all traces of her earlier friendliness disappeared. It was such a sharp contrast that I thought I was talking to another person.

“Do you think it’s alright to trick people like that?" she scoffed. "I thought I could trust you, but you lied to me. Liar.”

“You’re the one who assumed I was big. It’s not my fault,” I sighed.

“I bet you planned this to get my chips, deceiver.”

How does that make any sense when this is the first time we’ve met.

“Are you really even a woman? Or is that another of your lies?” Orange snickered.

“Wh-what? Of course I am!” I yelled.

Behind me, Green was dying from laughter. Having the time of her life while eating the chips I got her! I snatched the bag from her.

“Aww, petty…” she muttered.

Whatever. I rather eat them than let her have them!

I grabbed a handful and stuffed them into my mouth and instantly my mouth was assault by a disgusting sweetness. Big mistake. I looked at the bag. What the heck are these? ‘Super duper sweet baby carrot/corn mix’… Who’s making these things? They’re disgusting!

I turned back to Green and questioned her life decisions. “You were EATING these things? Here take them back.”

_Ding-dong!_

“Hello students.”

The loud speaker cut on with a sudden announcement.

“For all 2nd year students, you will NOT head to the next class as per your schedule. Everyone will, instead, head down the gymnasium for a fitness exam. That is all.”

I heard Orange gulp.

As quickly as the announcement came, it went and soon after the bell rang.

“Guess we're heading to the gym. Yaay…” Green sighed. "Come on. Let's go."

I wonder what the gym is like. My school -- when I went to an actually school -- didn’t have a gym. Most of the time, we went outside and did a bit of field work. With how everything else is here, it must be massive with an indoor pool and exercise machines and things like that, right?

I tried playing it cool, but I couldn’t help being excited. I left the class expectantly, ready to see what exactly this fitness exam had in store for me.


	3. Gym Day

I'll admit that I maybe was a tiny bit overexcited when Green led me to the gymnasium but give me a break. It’s my first time actually seeing one. She took me to a massive green and white building that had to be, I don't know, 4 barns high? 

I took it all in. So this is what a gym is like? It’s kinda underwhelming… It doesn’t see much different from any of the other buildings here.  
  
"Kiwi?" Green called. "You alright over there?"  
  
"Yeah. Sorry." I quickly wiped the stupid look on my face. "It's just my first time going to an actual gym. We didn't have one at my school."  
  
My explanation didn't do much to help with Green's confusion. Honestly, I think I made it even worse.  
  
"Your school didn't have a gym? I can't imagine what kind of backwater school doesn't have a gym," Green said. As blunt as usual. "Well, you might want to push those eyes back into your skull. We're not at the gym yet."  
  
I was confused when she said that, but it was quickly cleared up when we entered the building. The floors and walls were covered in marble. Several water coolers were dispensed around the building. Towards the back were several fancy looking showers and lockers as far as the eye could see. This wasn’t a gym but a completely oversized locker room. What was this supposed to be? A communal bath? I could bathe every single animal on the farm here, hop in with them and still have room for more -- Not that I would but you get what I mean.  
  
As soon as I walked in, all eyes were on me. They could’ve burned a hole in my jacket with how hard they were staring. I composed myself as best as I could, trying not to let my surprise get the best of me.  
  
"Kiwi!" "Excuse me, Kiwi."  
  
Though the crowd came two familiar voices. Even without seeing them, I knew who they were.  
  
"Hey Red! Hey Banana!" I waved at the girls as they made their way over.  
  
"About time you two made it here." Red smiled. "I was wondering if you got lost, Sis," she said giving her sister a playful nudge.  
  
"You know how busy it gets." Green shrugged.  
  
"How did you even find us? There's so many people here?" I asked.  
  
"Your outfit," Red quickly answered. "You stick out like a sore thumb. All I had to do was watch for a fuzzy brown ball," she said jokingly.  
  
"Sorry about being such an eyesore," I groaned.  
  
"Whatever. You know I don't mean anything by that." Red laughed.

Red and I shared a small laugh. Dealing with Green and Orange made me forget what it’s like to have a normal conversation. If only I could have more of these.

“Pardon me, Kiwi,” Banana spoke up.

Banana quietly waited for Red and I to finish talking before pulling me aside. Somehow, I forgot that she was here.

“Sorry, Banana. What’s up?” I asked.

The normally noble-looking Banana was oddly meek. Her face was beet red and she barely made eye contact with me.

“I want to apologize for my rudeness earlier today. It was unbecoming of me to speak so crudely. Especially when we’ve just met… I hope that you can--”

“Stop right there.” I interrupted. “I should be the one apologizing. It was my fault. I shouldn’t have been so nosy."

Banana’s eyes widen with surprise. “I thought for sure you would’ve hated me...”

Hate her? That’s pretty harsh over a little altercation. She must’ve really beaten herself up over this morning too.

“Then how about we both be sorry?" I suggested. "That way we'll be even."

Banana looked at me confused before bursting out in laughter.

“What a silly thing to say, Kiwi,” she said wiping a tear from her eye before smiling warmly. “But sure.”

“Ahem...” Green coughed drawing my attention back to the siblings.

“Oh! This is my friend Banana. I met her first period. And these two are Red and Green Apple. They’re sisters.” I explained.

“Sup.” Green gave a simple nod. Aloof as always. I expect nothing less from her.

“Nice to meet you. A friend of Kiwi is a friend of mine.” Red extended her hand for a handshake which Banana gratefully took.

“Likewise. It’s nice to meet you both as well," Banana said.

Behind us a small line was starting to form. Standing around the entrance was probably not that great of an idea. Especially since we were kind of blocking the way for everyone to get in...

"Hey… We should probably move." I said.

Luckily with the locker room being overly spacious, we were able to find benches next to each other.

“So how did you meet Kiwi?” Banana asked the apples.

“It’s a funny story…” Red awkwardly laughed.

I thought of our first ‘meeting’ and a mischievous popped up in my head. But was I really gonna embarrass Red like that?

“She assaulted me with her bike." I whimpered.

Yup. I sure was.

“What?” Green and Banana said in unison.

“You never told me about that, Red. I thought you only showed your abusive side to me.” Green teased, shedding some crocodile tears. "I thought we had something special."

“You assault both Kiwi and your sister?” Banana asked. ”Should I be worried about my safety…?”

“Yes.” Green answered instantly.

“Wow! Thanks Kiwi!” Red blushed fiercely, putting on a smile that was anything but friendly.

I gave Red a thumbs up. "No problem Red!"

While Red tried explaining herself, I decided to do a little people watching. It was something I picked up at the farm. There was never much to do when we were out to the town and so it became a little game I did to keep myself busy. Well, at this point, it’s not a game but kind of a creepy habit. I’ve been caught me staring a few times so I try not to do it. But you know, “old habits die hard” or something like that.

Seeing everyone in their uniform put into perspective just how much of an outsider I was. I definitely should’ve worn something more subtle. I wanted to show off just a tiny bit, but I stand out way too much – And not in a good way.

I notice another person from the corner of my eye, though it’s not someone I’m thrilled to see. It was Strawberry on a bench all to herself in a far off corner. With nobody wanting anything to do her, or giving her a rude side-eye glance at most. Green told me this before, but her reputation really is that bad. She’s all alone. No friends, no classmates. The only thing she has is her phone. A part of me feels bad for her, but I remember this morning and the feeling quickly goes away.

Maybe it was wrong to think this way, but I took solace in the fact that, even though I was an outcast, at the very least…

I wasn’t Strawberry.

After waiting around for a while, another announcement came on:

“Please remain seated. You will be handed your locker keys and gym uniforms. Please do not move.” It repeated.

As soon as the announced finished, a bunch of teachers came in and started handing out our stuff. Even with there being so many students, they were moving surprisingly fast. This probably isn’t their first time so maybe they were used to this.

“How long does it normally take for them to finish?” I asked the girls.

“Here." A teacher said, giving me my answer.

“Thank yo-“ I said as I reached for my stuff. But when I saw the teacher, my jaw nearly dropped to the floor.

She was a dark-skinned hulk of a woman. She easily stood over 6 feet tall and was ripped with tight, lean muscle. Her black hair fell past her shoulders and her brown eyes were piercing sharp. She had a commandeering aura. It felt like I was faced against a mountain. I was scared she’d grabbed my head and crush it like a soda can. She probably could if she wanted to.

“Here,” she repeated. A bit more forceful this time.

“O-okay.” I fumbled with the keys, my nerves getting the best of me. I know that she wouldn’t hurt me… I think… But something tells me that I should try to avoid her bad side.

“What size do you wear?” she asked flatly.

“I… Umm… I…”

What’s wrong with you, brain!? How do you forget what size your shirt is?

The woman glared at me, waiting for an answer. I’m trying my best to remember scary lady, but you glaring at me isn’t helping, okay!?

She got tired of waiting and reached forward…

I’m sorry! I’m sorry I’m stupid! Don’t hurt me!

“Here.” She handed me my uniform: some shorts, leggings, and a medium shirt. Then went on the other person.

"Oh. Thank you." I thanked the amazoness as she walked away.

Hey, she even gave me the perfect size! Cool.

Wait… I'm wearing my jacket. How did she know this fits me?

The teacher continued down the line. Next was Banana then Red whom were given a medium and small, respectively. Last was Green who got a large shirt.

"Geez, Mrs.M you keep giving me these and I'll feel fat." Green joked.

A small smirk appeared on "Mrs.M’s” face. "Then try to eat a bit less this year. All that food goes straight to your chest."

Green frowned, looking at her breasts with disgust. "Ugh… Don't remind me."

With a quick laugh and wave, the teacher left to finish her work.

I never noticed but Green did have a pretty large chest. If I had to judge just by looking, I'd say she was a D cup. Maybe DD? I'm only a C. She definitely has me beat.

"Take a picture. It'll last longer," Green grimaced.

Oops! Caught me.

"Oh no! I was just wondering who that teacher was," I lied.

Well, it's not a complete lie. More like a half truth.

"Yeah suuure," Green sarcastically nodded. She didn't believe me but dropped it, which was good enough for me. "That's Missus Muscleman. She's our gym teacher."

That's it…? That's a little anti-climaxtic. You'd expected a lot more from a character like that.

Almost as if she could read my mind, Green continued, "Oh! And she won gold at the Olympics for… For…"

Green turned to Red. "What did she win again?"

"Uhh… I think it was…"

"Weightlifting." Banana chimed in.

"Yeah that," Green said as if it was the most mundane thing in the world.

'Yeah the gym teacher is an Olympian. So what?' How are they so nonchalant about this?

Noticing my 100% justified reaction, Red spoke up. "Calm down, Kiwi," she said. "Sure it was pretty cool when we first found out…"

Pretty cool is a major understatement.

"...but that was like a year ago. So everyone got over it." She shrugged.

Man, that dismissiveness really does remind me of Green. They're definitely related.

"Not to be rude, Kiwi," Banana said, "but occurrences like this are standard at the school. In fact, our first period teacher, Mr.Dew, got a master degree at 14 years old. He is a certified genius."

Another bombshell got dropped on me. Is everyone here that extraordinary?

"Yup." Red nodded, continuing off of Banana. "The staff and students are all pretty much cream of the crop."

...Does that mean most of them are pretty much rich?

Let's me get this right:

Red Apple: Rich

Green Apple: Rich

Banana: Rich

Everyone else: Rich

Kiwi (Me): Poor

_Haa…_ Well, that's depressing…

"Kiwi, no offensive, but how did you get here?" Green asked. "I've been curious since you got here. You don't mesh here at all."

"I-I don't know. I know just as much as you,” I admitted. “All I know is that my grandparents got me in here."

"That doesn't explain much. Weren't they just farmers? Are they rich?" Green pushed me for answers I didn't have.

My grandparents had raised me for most of my life. They always just seemed like normal hard working farm folks. Every day at 6 am, we'd wake up and tend to the animals. By 8, we'd all have breakfast. Noon, we were tending the crops. I couldn't see them secretly having a bunch of money, not with how little we spent. But maybe that's because, they didn't want me to see? There's clearly a lot more to them that I don't know about… But why would they hide it from me?

"Wait, Green Apple," Banana said, stopping Green’s interrogation. "Coming to the Academy isn't just about financial success. Perhaps Kiwi has some educational achievement?"

"Makes sense." The sisters agreed.

"And so… Kiwi, what school did you go to prior to this one?" Banana asked.

I turned away from the girls and locked eyes with the floor. That question hit like a brick. Of all things, why did she have to ask that? Ugh, I really REALLY wish she didn’t.

"...ome school…" I grumbled.

Banana’s head tilted. "Pardon?"

"I was home schooled!" I yelled before retreating into my jacket.

All of their eyes widened like dinner plates, even the always polite Banana couldn’t hide her shock.

"Pardon?" she repeated.

Hnng… I knew this was going to happen…

Then suddenly, we had another announcement. It was Mrs. Muscleman.

"Everyone who has their stuff go to your locker now," her voice boomed across the locker room.

It was all the excuse I needed to leave. I leapt off the bench. My locker was number 37? No problem.

I excused myself as I shuffled past the crowd of girls heading to their lockers. The sooner I can get away from the girls the better. I know I’m just putting off the embarrassment for later, but later is better than sooner.

I lucked out: None of the girls were by me. No Red, Green or Banana. I sighed, relieved, and began to change. My locker was surprisingly spacious, seemingly more of a small closet than a locker. Did it really need to be so wide though? Whatever. At least there's enough room to put all my stuff up. I undressed quickly and put on the uniform.

I gave myself a little glance over in the mirror. The clothes fit snugly with very little wiggle room. I'd prefer something looser but that’s just me. I ran my hands through my hair, giving it a bit of a ruffle. It was flatten from wearing the hat. I doubt that this'll do much but it's better than nothing.

I examined myself in the mirror.

I don't like how my hair looks… I wanted my grandmother's flowing forest green hair, instead mine stopped short just before my shoulders. I was "lucky" enough to get her green hair, almost. Most of it was brown with small bunches of green in between every once in a while. My hair was like a yard with a few patches of grass and mostly dirt.

I can only imagine what those sadistic sisters will say…

I guess I should to the gym now. No point in putting off the roasting session.

Right as I readied to leave, the locker door beside me closed with a slam.

"Excuse me."

Despite the polite words, it was anything but that. The annoyance and impatient was clearly evident. Without even seeing them, I knew who this was. I closed my locker and turned around, putting on my best smile. Just because she was rude didn’t mean I had to be.

"I'm sorry. Let me get out of your way," I said politely.

Strawberry stood there hand on hip, waiting to get pass. The moment she saw me, the already unfriendly girl’s face twisted into a disgusting bitter expression. Her frown pulled all the way down to the corner of her face and her eyes practically sunk into her head. For a moment, I thought I did something wrong. What did I to deserve such a hateful look? You would think I killed her dog or something.

“Move.” The small girl shoved past me.

To be fair, it was less of a shove and more of a nudge but it was more than enough to set me off. I hate this girl. I’ve done nothing but try to be nice. So why was she acting like a total… No. Don’t let it get to you Kiwi. You’re better than that.

I walked out to the gym, slamming the locker with a little more force than necessary.

By the time I got out, the other fruits were already waiting for me.

“Kiwi! Over here!” They waved me over.

The gymnasium was large enough to be a school on its own. If I wasn’t in such a sour mood, I’d be excited, but I was way too annoyed for that. Strawberry managed to ruin my first gym experience. Great. There’s never anything good with her.

I dragged myself over to the girls, mentally preparing myself for their teasing. I was in an awful mood, but I wanted to avoid taking it out on anyone… Except maybe Green if she deserved it.

“Hey.” I put on a weak smile.

Nobody responded. Instead the girls just stared me like I was some unknown creature. No. Studying would be a better way to describe it. They examined me for what seemed like an uncomfortable amount of time. Under their inspection, my annoyance quickly melted away and my self-consciousness returned in full force. I really wish I had my jacket…

Red was the first to break the silence. “See Green. Told you it was Kiwi,” she said.

“Guess so. It’s strange to see her without all those extra clothes on. I didn’t even recognize her.”

Banana nodded along, agreeing with the others..

“But who would’ve guessed underneath everything was a surprisingly cute girl,” Green joked, tossing her arm around my shoulder.

“Surprisingly…?” I scowled.

“Indeed.” Banana smiled. "Though there is a fresh aesthetic in her regular style."

"I guess…" Green said.

“You should definitely try changing up your wardrobe a bit, Kiwi,” Red added. “When we get some free time, I’ll show you around the city. And we can try on clothes. Is that cool with you?”

"Y-Yes please!”

This went unexpectedly well. Things could’ve been a lot worse. Still wish I had my jacket or at least my hat.

"Plus look at your hair. It's Green! Green hair squad! Green hair don't care!" Green shouted.

"..."

Everyone gave Green a cold stare as she raised her hand for a high five that was never coming. Red gave her the most disapproving look out of the three of us. She looked just about ready to disown her.

Green waited with her hand up awkwardly for a moment before lowering her arm back down.. "Yeah. Got it. Bad joke."

"By the way Kiwi, what held you up?" Banana asked, saving Green from her awful awful joke. "You took quite a long time. Did you need to use the restroom, perhaps?"

"No, it was nothing like that…"

I gave them a quick rundown of my little encounter with that spiteful girl. To nobody surprise, it was a very unpleasant meeting. 

"Yeah. That sounds like her," Red said flatly. "Don't worry about it. There's no getting along with her."

"So where's the part where you laid her out," Green unnecessarily added.

"That part never happened," I sighed.

"Why not? She's old enough to know that when she hits, she gets hit back.”

"Violence is never the answer, Green." Her sister objected.

"Violence is the question! Yes is the answer!" Green shouted.

"Calm down before I get violent on you," Red growled, not really helping her point.

Apple has a surprisingly violent side. I’ll make sure to remember that.

"Geez, I'm just kidding. I don't like the girl, but I wouldn't assault her." Then she dropped her joking tone, "Still, somebody needs to do something about her."

During the whole exchange, Banana remained eerily quiet. Her face was one of obvious conflict. I forgot that she was close with Strawberry at some point. And here we were bad talking her old friend right in front of her.

Before I could say anything to her, Mrs. Muscleman began talking.

"Everyone line up now!" Her voice echoed within the massive gymnasium. In an instant, the room fell silent. Even the other teachers zipped up.

"We will have all of you doing a series of extremely extraneous activities. Rope climbing, endurance running, sprinting, weightlifting, etc., etc. Basic exercises more or less."

Why are we doing so much? I thought this was just going to something simple like jogging and body measurements.

"With there being so many of you, we will have a number of you grouped with a teacher who will oversee your tests," she continued. "Of course, I know a lot of you couldn't care less about this, but I encourage you to try your best. You never know what opportunity may present itself from this."

Red nodded along, a fire in her eyes. "She's right, you know? We should all take this seriously. You hear me?!"

"Ye-yeah…" All three of us answered taken aback by Red's sudden explosiveness.

I don’t know why but she got super passionate for some reason.

"I'm expecting a lot out of you girls." Then Red turned focusing on me. "Especially you, Kiwi. You're new, so I want to see what you've got!"

I don’t how but I got swept up in Apple’s excitement. Maybe that’s just her natural charisma or something… Either way, I didn’t wanna let her down.

"O-okay. I'll do my best," I said.

"Good!" Red gave me a thumbs up.

We didn’t have to wait long before getting separated into our groups. Red was grouped with a very athletic looking woman, less so than Mrs. Muscleman but impressive nonetheless. Banana’s teacher was a porky red faced man who couldn’t look anymore out of place. He looked tired enough just standing there.

Green and I ended up grouped together. Our teacher was a--

"You. Come here." Mrs. Muscleman commanded, pointing towards me.

My heart sunk into my stomach. She wants me…? No, that can’t be right. There’s no reason she’d pick me out of everyone else. I mean my luck isn’t THAT bad, is it?

"Stop hiding and come here," she ordered.

I stood there frozen, not sure who exactly she was calling for. A part of me thought that I should just go, but I pushed that stupid idea aside. No way was I gonna set myself up for a trap. Regardless, it didn’t matter since Mrs. Muscleman got tired of waiting and walked over.

Her massive hand reached towards me. I closed my eyes, ready to accept my fate, but there was no vice grip. Instead she reached past me and grabbed the head of the fruit using me as cover: Green. She was crouched down behind me, trying her best to stay out of sight. 

Green did her best to ignore Mrs. Muscleman even as the teacher had a firm grip on her. Whistling, humming, avoiding eye contact. She tried every trick in the book but it was way too late for that.

"What's with that stupid look on your face?" Mrs. Muscleman asked. 

"No clue what you mean. Hahaha…" Green laughed in a sad attempt to escape the situation.

Mrs. Muscleman smirked. "Well it doesn't matter anyway. I've got you now."

"No! Please not this year too!" Green begged.

She flailed around pathetic. It was something seeing the normally calm Green so unreasonable desperate… I felt bad for her. Really. But something tells me that I shouldn’t get involved—

Wait.

I noticed Green staring at me. Her eyes practically screamed for me to help her. I couldn't stand to see her looking so pitiful. I know I had to do something about it…

So I turned the other way. Out of sight, out of mind.

Sorry Green, but this is out of my control. She’ll be fine though! She dealt with Mrs. Muscleman before, she can do it again. Now where’s MY teacher?

Just as I tried to leave, I felt an intense pressure on the top of my head.

"You too," Mrs. M said.

"What!?" I yelled.

The universe must’ve decided to punish for my bad karma because I got dragged off too, right along with Green.

\--------

Green and I stood at the back of Mrs. Muscleman's group. The air was awkward between us. I stood away from her, deflecting the barrage of death stares Green’s eyes were beaming at me.

"Tried to abandon me, huh?" Green glared.

Wow! This gym is so nice. Wonder how long it takes to clean.

“Trying to ignore me again, punk? That’s what we do here? Abandon out friends?”

I really REALLY like the designs of the floors. Whoa…! So unique!

" _Haa…_ I guess I can’t be that mad at you,” Green surrendered.   
“If things were reversed, I’d probably leave you too." She admitted.

"Yeah, I know right? It couldn't be helped." I agreed, not letting this opportunity go to waste.

Green's eyes narrowed into slits as if to say: ‘Don't push your luck.’ Then, with a sigh, she resigned to her fate. "Get ready. We're both in this now, traitor."

She says that, but what exactly are we in for? The whole ambiguity thing isn’t helping.

"Wow, you even betray your friends. No dignity," someone said, abruptly hopping into our conversation.

"Oh my god. It's you." Green rubbed her temple, preparing for the inevitable migraine.

And I was right there with her. Because there she was, Orange, standing right here with us.

"Yup. That's right. I have arrived!" Orange announced, making a spectacle of herself. Her “audience” wasn’t too excited to see her, however.

"How long have you been here?" I asked.

"Me? I've been here since… Hmm… Since Mrs. Muscleman dragged you over here."

Orange did an absolutely terrible impression of the teacher carrying us over. It was like playing charades with a caveman. It was hard to tell whether she was trying to mock Mrs. Muscleman on purpose, or just that bad at acting.

"So you were here before us?" Green asked. "Sucks for you. You've got a real hardass for a teacher."

Uhh… The same goes for us too. You realize that, right? We’re basically in the same boat.

"About that, Green. What is so bad about Mrs. Muscleman?" I asked.

Besides looking intimidating, she seemed okay. What was Green so afraid of?

"It's terrible, Kiwi… This woman is like a Terminator. If she sees potential in you, she'll keep pushing you until you break, Kiwi. Until. You. Break." Green shuddered.

"Okay… I… Umm… Sorry?"

I retreated from Green. All the color drained in her face and her eyes were cold and devoid of emotion. She kept rambling on and on. I doubt she was talking to anyone at this point. What ever happened to her definitely wasn’t a joke.

"She made me bench press 200 lbs… 45 reps. 45 reps. She said I could do it. 'Keep going,' she said. And I did it, but at what cost, Kiwi?"

"Well, that's a bit much… But I'm sure she pushed you because she believed in you," I said.

I tried to reconcile the Green, but all she did was repeat "45 reps" over and over. I think she might need actual counseling.

"Well, I'm not worried!" Orange said, brimming with most likely undeserved confidence.

But I’m gullible, so I took the bait.

"Why not, Orange? Something like this seems a bit beyond you."

"I'm glad you asked. I have this energy bar that I'll eat right before the test. It'll make this test a breeze," she said proudly.

Was that really it…? A protein bar? I should’ve expected as much. This was Orange after all.

"Impossible." Green answered, temporarily snapping out of her PTSD.

"Watch me." Orange snorted.

The rest of the lines were formed and after a bit of warm up exercises, we finally got our first test: Endurance running. The test was just us running a few laps on a track field. It was one of the more normal things I've seen so far. But don’t take my word for it. I don't know exactly how common indoor track fields are.

"For this test, you will do 5 laps around the course.” A teacher announced. “Remember not to exhaust yourself too quickly. This isn't a race. The only person you should try to beat is yourself.”

"Kiwi…" Green whispered. "Run as fast you can, okay? I'm warning you."

“Okay?”

I don’t know what she meant, but I planned on doing my best regardless.

Two groups were lined onto the track field. It just so happened to be ours and Red's.

"I can't believe how lucky you and Green are," Red exclaimed. "You two were personally picked by Mrs. Muscleman. That means she must see a lot of potential in both of you. I'm looking forward to this race."

"Okay, sure! Even though it's not a race." I answered.

Unexpectedly, the sarcastic apple was incredibly stoic. She was so quiet, for a moment, I thought she ran off somewhere. But what I saw instead was even more shocking.

Green silently faced the field. She took deep controlled breaths and her face was one of absolute concentration. It was almost frightening how focused she was. I thought she was about to pull out a secret technique. This couldn’t be the Green I know.

This didn't faze Red in the slightest. Completely ignoring the atmosphere, she gave her sister a solid slap on the back.

"Let's do our best today, sis!"

The two sisters shared a look. And though their eyes were saying the same thing, the meanings were completely different:

_'I wish I were you right now.'_

"Everyone take your starting positions!"

The sisters crouched into a readying position. I copied them as best as I could. Orange didn't do anything and just stood there.

The countdown began.

_5!_

"Hey, Orange. Where's your candy bar thingy?" I asked.

_4!_

No response. Orange stood there frozen like a popsicle.

_3!_

"Uhh? You okay there?"

_2!_

The petrified girl finally turned to me, Her wide eyes welling with tears.

On the brink of crying, she said in a pitiful voice:

"I don't have any pockets."

_1!_

…Of course you don't.

"Go!"

I pushed off the ground using all my body weight and my foot as a pivot. In an instant, I shot to the front of the class…!

Just kidding.

I don't really know the science behind running and stuff, so I just kept copying the apples as best as I could. But honestly these two are ridiculous. As soon as the test started, they zipped off in front of everyone. It took almost everything I had to catch up with them. And now it's taking even more than that just to keep on them.

The first lap passed by in an instant. The second slightly less so. Now we were on the third lap. The track didn't look that intimidating from a distance, but running on it was a completely different story. Maybe if it was only 3 or 4 laps, this wouldn’t be so painful but 5 felt excessive. At the beginning of the test, a few of the fruit were walking, but most of them were jogging at least. By now about half of our group were power walking.

Somehow Red and Green were still holding first and second place, never really losing their pace. It was nothing like that ridiculous speed from before but still fast nonetheless.

I could understand Red since she seemed like the athletic type already. But Green was completely unexpected, she seems so lazy. I guess this is what they mean by not judging a book by its cover.

Somehow I was able to push out a little harder and close the gap, but my tank was close to empty. I can’t keep this up. Heck, I don't know if I'll be able to finish this at this rate.

Red noticed me trailing behind and slowed down a bit.

"Everything okay?" she asked.

Am I okay? My chest hurts. My legs feel like noodles. And I'm soaked in sweat…

“Never better,” I said, giving a shaky thumbs up.

I didn't want to fall behind. If I was proud of anything, it was my endurance. I worked on a farm all my life. Every day was a workout for me. I had to keep up at the very least.

I’m sure I look like a mess running myself haggard like this, but Red didn’t mind. She matched her speed to mine.

“Kiwi, copy what I’m doing.”

Red slowed down even more.

“Straighten your back. Relax your shoulders. Lead with your chest,” she said. “Most importantly, slow your breathing. Focus on finding your breath, okay? Don’t kill yourself.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

Red gave a small nod in return. “I’m going to speed up a bit. See you at the finish line.”

With that small bit of advice, Red disappeared around the track and left me behind. A couple of other runners zipped by me. Slowing down to listen to Red made me lose the pace I had earlier.

But it did help a lot.

I focused on Red’s advice. Back straight, relaxed shoulders, lead with chest, breathe. After a little while I overtook the people who passed me, gaining a bit of separation from the other runners, but Red and Green still had a bit of distance on me.

We entered our 4th lap. By this time, the gap between me and the other runners was very noticeable. I couldn’t help feeling proud even though I was still the bronze medal of the group. Green was in first place and Red was a close second. Green stayed focus staring straight ahead and never looking back. But Red saw me gaining on them and a large grin appeared on her face. She slowed down again to chat with me, letting the distance between Green and her widen.

“Wow! You’re really hanging in there, Kiwi. Good job.”

“Yeah, it’s all thanks to you, Red,” I admitted.

I’m sure I would’ve passed out or something if she didn’t help me out.

“Don’t thank me yet. We have this last lap to do. That’s where things get intense,” she said.

Intense? Wasn’t this already intense?

“Make sure you give it everything you’ve got. You want to beat me right?” She winked.

”Red, it’s not a rac—”

“Oh! And I wouldn’t underestimate the people behind you. There are a lot of athletes in there too,” Red interrupted. “Anyway, I got to catch up to Green before she gets too far ahead. See ya!”

Before I could say anything, Red zipped off, catching up with her sister pretty quickly. It's like there was never a gap to begin with. "Beat her" she says. I don't even know how I'm supposed to race against that. Might as well tell me to go outside and race a car.

I focused on what's actually possible -- holding my position. Apple warned me about the other girls, but, not to seem full of myself, I couldn't see any of them beating me as things were. Well, it's not like it really matters anyway. This isn't a race.

…But I'll pick up the pace. Just cause.

"Lap 5! Give it everything you've got!" Mrs. Muscleman shouted.

Red heard the call and must've surpassed her limits or removed her ankle weights. Something. Because I've only seen horses move that fast. That led Green held the entire time was entirely false with the way Red blew pass her. Green never really stood a chance. None of us did.

It's not like I didn't have my own problems. The girls behind me were catching up. Like Red warned, they were holding back until the final lap. Even though I did everything Red told me to do, my lead shrunk more and more.

Ah, whatever. There was no need to overthink anything. I'll just do my best. I gave up on all of Red's fancy advice and ran as fast as I could. My legs were numb. My body felt light and I don't know if I was breathing properly anymore. But instead of pain, I felt fine. Better than fine, I felt great. I stopped caring about the people behind me and focused on the finish line.

So I ran.

And ran.

And ran.

And...

"Hayward Kiwi! Finished!"

Wait, I'm done? Without noticing, I somehow finished my lap.

"Kiwi!”

Through my gasps for air and my screaming lungs, I heard Red calling for me. Or was that just the ringing in my ears? It’s hard to tell with my head spinning.

She handed me a towel and some water. “That was amazing!" she shouted.

While I cleaned myself up, I looked at Red. It was hard to believe that we ran the same thing. I was a soggy sweat covered mess. Ruffled hair, dry lips, I looked awful. She looked like she went for a brief jog. The difference in ability between us was crystal clear.

Nevertheless, Red was impressed.

"It's hard to believe that you're a beginner, Kiwi. I guess all that farm work was good for something, huh?"

With all the praise she was giving, it was hard not to blush. While it felt kind of undeserved, especially compared to her, I was feeling myself just a tiny bit. Nothing wrong with that, right?

"Still, I didn't expect you to take second. I guess I gotta train Green harder." Red laughed.

Did she say I took SECOND? How? Green was in front of me the whole time! When did I pass her? I turned to Ms. Muscleman. Was I actually second, or was Red just messing with me?

As if reading my mind, she gave me a quick thumbs up, confirming what Red said. I still don't believe it. What about Green? What happened to her?

Two other fruits finished then finally there was our Green Apple.

A devilish grin filled Mrs. Muscleman's face as she called out, "Green Apple! Finished!"

I thought I looked bad but Green… She was absolutely drenched in sweat. She looked like she swimming and didn’t bring a towel. Her lips were beyond dry and she took huge gulps of air like a dying fish. I was worried she'd just drop dead there. But somehow Green had enough energy to flash a mischievous smile of her own.

"Ho-how about that, teach?"

"Pretty good… Pretty good." Mrs. Muscleman gave an approving nod. " I hope you can keep it up, Apple. We've got a looonnngg day ahead."

Was this supposed to be a friendly exchange between teacher and student? This seemed more like a drill sergeant that had it out for an unruly cadet. No wonder Green was traumatized. Even though that threaten wasn’t for me, I couldn’t help feeling dread for the rest of the day.

If the first test was this bad, man, today was gonna be a super rough day.


	4. Fruit Salad

Despite Mrs. Muscleman's ominous threat, Green somehow kept her cocky grin.

"Of course I can! Whatever you've got I can handle," Green said, waving bye as she made her way over to us.

She's got a lot of spirit. I'll give her that. But the way she’s waddling over makes me feel less than optimistic. She’s moving like her legs are made of pool noodles, or some put Bambi on a pair of stilts. I tried to hold back my laughter. Red didn’t. She laughed the entire time Green stumbled over to us.

"Hah! Finally!" Green sigh, plopping the bench.

Red handed her a bottle of water. "Here you go, sis," she said still laughing.

As soon as Green touched the water, it was gone and she was asking for another.

"More!" Green demanded.

"Yeah, yeah. Here."

Red gave her another bottle, it was empty before it even left her hands.

"More!" Green slammed her fist on the bench. “Give me more!”

"Calm down! The water isn't going anywhere," Red said, giving a third bottle.

"I’m dying here, Red. You wouldn’t know what that’s like. You don't know what it's like being a NORMAL person.” Green shook her head. “People need water.”

This time Green didn't absorb the bottle into herself. She stopped drinking about half way before continuing her rant.

"Not everyone can be a race horse like you." Green pointed a flimsy finger at her sister. "Or you either, Kiwi!"

I flinched back, never expecting to be involved in this conversation. As far as I was concerned, Green and I were in the same boat. Red was a monster, definitely. But me? Really?

"Me? What do you mean me?" I asked.

"'You' means you! That wasn't “I played around at the farm” speed. That was “I was raced wild horses for fun” speed. People like me can’t fight against that."

My face burned hot with anger. What did she know? I worked way harder than she did!

“That’s not true! You were ahead of me the whole time! You and Red were amazing. I had to nearly died catching up. If anything, it’s YOUR fault I passed you. You just got lazy!” I retorted.

“Lazy? Ha! I wish…” Green paused to finish her bottle of water. “I was sprinting at full speed the entire time.”

“Huh?” I choked on my word, not sure if I was hearing right.

“I wasn’t expecting to beat Red or anything, but I didn’t think you’d be a monster too.”

My anger faded and in came guilt. I was too quick to insult Green without knowing how hard she’d had work. I felt bad having to go against Red. Imagine having to be her sister... You’d have to work twice as hard just to not live in her shadow. Maybe she wasn’t as lazy as I thought…?

Ashamed, I tried to apologize but Green had more to say.

“Ah, whatever. I did good enough to keep Mrs. M off my back. That’s all that matters.” Green shrugged.

Then she, without warning, leapt up from the bench and cupped my hands.

“Hey!” Stars lit up in her eyes. “Maybe she’ll start bothering you instead, Kiwi! That would be great!”

…I take back what I said. I’ll never feel bad for this girl again.

We all sat and waited for the rest of the class to finish. The more athletic kids finished soon after us with the rest of the class coming a little while later. The next test would start after everyone finished. But one fruit was holding everything up. I doubt I need to say who it was, but it was Orange.

She looked like she was having a brisk walk. But with that look of absolute anguish on her, this was definitely her “running”. With everyone else finished, we were forced to watch the poor girl drag herself across the field.

“Look at her. She can’t even run lol.” “Imagine being that fat.”

The kids behind me laughed at Orange, having a twisted enjoyment of her struggle.

“Get a move on, Fatty,” a boy yelled from the bleacher.

The boy’s friends snickered. A few of them joining in with the name calling. Some of the other kids laughed but most of them just watched silently, not making them much better than the bullies.

But I wasn’t going to be a bystander, I flipped around in my seat, ready to tell them off. But Red and Green were already on it.

“All of you shut up. Nobody cares what you have to say.” Red snapped.

“You’d think Orchard wouldn’t just let anybody in, but I guess you miss a few pieces of trash every once in a while,” Green said, making sure that the group could hear her.

“What’s up with those ugly girls?” “Who are they talking to?” “Come up here and say that. Watch what happens.”

But, because of that, they ended up the being the new target of their ridicule.

“They really don’t shut up, do they?” Red sighed.

“Eh, let them talk. It’s all they can do anyway.” Green shrugged. “Unless you’re gonna go beat them up.”

Red tapped her chin, mulling over the idea before shaking her head. “Nah, it’s not worth getting suspended.”

The sisters ignored the taunts and talked as if the insults weren’t being hurled at them from above.

“Oh. Sorry, Kiwi. Didn’t mean to get you caught up in our mess.” the sisters apologized.

“No, it’s fine.” I smiled.

Because, at this moment, I was proud to be their friend.

Meanwhile, Orange continued around the track and finally hit her… third lap. This definitely isn’t going to end anytime soon. Mrs. Muscleman seemed to understand this and stepped in, stopping Orange, either out of pity or because she didn’t want us stuck there for another 30 minutes.

“It’s okay. You can stop. You’ve done enough,” she said her voice seemingly softer than usual.

Orange regained her breathe and looked up, her wide eyes wet with tears. “Kay…”

She dragged herself over to us and finally burst into full-fledged crying. Orange launched herself at Green, pulling her into a sudden hug and using her shirt as a napkin.

“Why me!?” Green cried.

“It was awful, Green! I never want to do that again!” Orange said, nuzzling deeper into Green’s chest.

“Okay? But why are you on ME? Get off!” Green shouted.

“You ate my chips…” Orange whimpered.

“You’re still going on about that!?”

“Okay! Let’s go everyone. We still have more tests to do!”

With everyone finished, we were assigned our next test. As we left, Banana’s group took our place. Now it was Banana’s turn for the endurance run. I wonder how fast Banana is. She doesn’t seem like much of a runner. Oh. Strawberry’s with her… It’s like she can’t ever get away from the girl.

Our next test was weightlifting: Deadlifts, bench press, squats. Instead of all of us going at the same time, we were all lined up and taken in bunches of 10. They would take us up 3 at a time and have us cycle through the workouts then that group would rest and three more groups would take their place. Orange and Green were going first… Sucks for them. Apple was somewhere in the middle. And I ended up being put into the last group by myself, leaving me with plenty of free time.

Bored out of my mind, I decided to watch Banana run since there was nothing else to do. Right now she was in the lead. She was pretty fast. Nothing like Red but still fast. Her lead was decent but nothing huge – the whole group seemed even truthfully. The only outlier was Strawberry. Not that I went out my way to look for her, mind you, but it’s not hard to see the only person walking.

She seemed incredibly disinterested… Like she was too good to run and that being here was a waste of her time. No matter where or when I see her, she keeps up this air of conceitedness. How in the world was Banana friends with her? The difference between them was night and day. Banana was gentle, kind, and courtesy. Strawberry was none of those things: rude, selfish, condescending. They say opposites attract. but I can’t see it. They had to hit the middle ground somewhere.

Maybe Banana was being bullied by Strawberry, so it was less of a friendship and more of a hostage situation? But how could such a small girl could terrorize Banana by herself? Unless there was a group of Strawberries… A herd of Strawberries… Ugh… I’d hate to see what that’s like.

Someone tapped on my shoulder.

“Hey. It’s our turn,” a classmate said.

“Oh! Thanks.”

While I was daydreaming, my turn come up. Overseeing the test were two teachers and, of course, Mrs. Muscleman was one of them. And she was paying extra attention to me. Great…

“Ms. Hayward, please go over to the squat machine. You will be doing that first,” the other teacher said.

“O-okay.” I stuttered.

“Are you familiar with doing squats?” Mrs. Muscleman asked.

I nodded. My grandpa taught me how to do them. It was so I could help him lift things like haystacks, buckets of milk, and spare tractor wheels for when the tires pop. Which happened a lot... He wasn’t the best driver.

“Okay. Go ahead. I’ll be here to spot you if anything happens.”

That’s reassuring. At least I don’t have to worry about breaking my spine. I placed the bar onto my shoulders and got into position. The rest of the class sat on the bleachers in front of me.

Red, Green, and Orange waved at me from the benches. “Good luck out there, Kiwi.” “Do your best!”

I felt like dying. I was already facing the entire class. Could they try and not draw all this attention to me?

There were two 50lb weights on the bar. With the bar, it should be around 120 lbs I’m guessing? It felt light enough.

“Umm, how many times should I go down?” I asked.

“Give me 4 reps.” Mrs. Muscleman answered.

“Okay.”

I straightened my back and lowered my butt to the floor. And back up.

One.

And again.

Two.

With the same ease as before, I dropped down two more times and finished my last two reps.

Wow… That was surprising easy. Was that really it? That was nothing compared to the running! Hahaha!

“So what’s next?” I asked excitedly. 

But maybe I was a bit too excited, because she turned me right back around and added more weights to the bar.

“175 lbs. 4 reps. Let’s go.”

“Okay! No problem.”

Even with the added weight, it wasn’t difficult. Heavier than before but completely bearable. I did the same thing as the first time.

One. Two. Three. Four.

“Done. What’s next, teach?”

I must have been dropped on my head as a seedling because I didn’t learn my lesson the first time. Mrs. Muscleman added even more onto the bar.

“200 lbs. 2 reps. Let’s go,” she repeated.

Okay. Sure. Even with the additional pounds, my confidence didn’t waiver. In fact, I felt more confident that ever. I crushed the first two times. What was an extra 25 pounds?

My joints made a concerning creaking sound as I lowered down with the bar. I thought for sure my knees were gonna give out and shatter, but somehow I managed to bring myself back up.

A lot… 25 lbs was a lot. But through some extraordinary act of god, I was able to finish without having to get my knees replaced. I HAD to be finished now. There’s no way she wants more from me. 

“There… I’m done, right, Mrs. Muscleman?

“Hmm…” Mrs. Muscleman tapped her chin.

Come on… This had to be enough. I did everything she asked! Just let me go to the next exercise! Please!

“215 lbs. 2 reps. Let’s go,” she said flatly.

“215 lbs”… A death sentence. My soul felt like it was ripped from my body. Why was she doing this to me? This is just wrong… I-I never did anybody any wrong. I’m a good person! Was this supposed to be a punishment?

As I squatted with the bar, I saw Green sat down, grinning maliciously. It finally dawn on me exactly what she was so afraid of…

And now here I was taking her place.

For the rest of my days, I was Mrs. Muscleman’s plaything. Every day, I would be worked to the brink of insanity but never allowed to lose my sense of reason.

BAD END

Okay, it wasn’t THAT bad, but it wasn’t that far from the truth.

The rest of the exercises… No. The rest of the day proceeded to be more of the same.

Every. Single. Test.

With Mrs. Muscleman pushing me to the limits of my physical and mental endurance and me leaving a far worse person than when I started. No matter how much pain I endured, my capacity to suffer only grew more and more. All I know now is the Machine, the Metal, the Weight. 

Last test of the day. A full sprint. 100 meters.

I don’t remember what happened. I think Green, Orange and I ran it together or something like that? As soon as I stepped onto that dreaded field, I blacked out until I crossed the finish line.

“Hey, Kiwi… You good?” Green asked, sounding genuinely concerned. That’s surprising.

“Want some water…?” Orange offered.

“No. I’m not okay.” I answered, not having the energy to lie.

Green shook her head melodramatically. "You poor fool… Now you know what I went through."

My neck twisted with a dry creek as I turned, looking deep within Green. Down to her core. What I saw there was: Innocence. It was a shriveled shred of innocence, but it was there nonetheless. She didn’t suffer the way I did. She doesn’t carry the Weight I carry.

Green retreated when she finally understood the difference in our circumstance. “Never mind… Let’s just get out of here.”

While on our way out, Red and Banana ran over. They were just finished with their tests.

"Wait up!" Red called from behind. “Sheesh, you could’ve at least waited for us to finish too,” she complained as if she didn’t run on an infinite amount of stamina.

"This year’s tests were easier than last’s," Banana said. “We finished them relatively fast as well.”

Everyone nodded in agreement, even Orange… Orange. She didn't even finish most of the tests! I wish I had the "easy" tests. Instead I… I….

"Excuse me, Kiwi," Banana said, noticing my depraved state. "Are you all right?"

"No,” I answered instantly.

"I see." She nodded. "Carry on then."

I like Banana and everything, but for some reason, I felt a really strong urge to hit her just now.

"Kiwi's fine," Red interjected, "she's just feeling the fatigue from an intense workout is all."

"Yeah. Sure.” I surrendered. There was no point in arguing with anyone. It’s not like they would understand. “Can we leave now? I just want to shower and put this day behind me."

As I said that, all the color evaporated from Green's face. In an instant, she was as pale as a ghost. Before I could ask why, I got my answer.

"Yeah, you girls get out of here."

I went stiff like a board. Why was Mrs. Muscleman back? Did she come to finish the job…? I was dead on the inside. Wasn’t that good enough?

"But you, Kiwi. You stay. There are a few personal tests I need you to do."

"Just Kiwi, right? Okay, bye! See you at lunch, Kiwi!"

Green wasted no time in protecting her number one priority: Herself. Mrs. Muscleman didn’t even have time to finish talking before Green was zooming out the gym.

“Wait up Green!” Orange shouted chasing after her.

"Lunch…? We'll be waiting for you in the locker room, Kiwi," Red said before also leaving.

"Good luck," Banana smiled before disappearing along with Orange and Red.

Thanks Banana. I’m going to need plenty of luck if I’m going to survive round two with this woman.

"Let's go, Kiwi." Mrs. Muscleman said.

“Please don’t put me on the Machine, ma’am.” I begged.

"...Is that some type of joke, Hayward?"

She didn't bother waiting for an answer and simply dragged me along to her torture dungeon, where I would suffer for another excruciating 45 minutes…

\----

Okay I don't know how, but somehow I wasn’t tortured. Instead we spent 40 minutes doing measurements, writing down my BMI, checking my body fat percentage, talking about my diet, things like that. I was put on a Machine, but all it did was tell me how much I weighed. So for now on, it shall be known as “Nice Machine”, the only one of its kind. Even though I didn’t do anything, my body was super heavy like I was neck deep in water. And the tightness in my muscles… Waking up tomorrow is going to be awful.

I stumbled over to the locker room, wondering if anyone waited for me. Probably not. I did take a while to finish. Maybe they’re at the cafeteria waiting for me? If they are, I hope they don't mind waiting a tiny bit longer because I'm taking a looong hot shower.

And just like I expected, the locker room was completely empty. There’s nobody to both--

"Who do you think you are!" Someone shouted.

Oh! Guess not.

I went over to see who could still be in here and why were they arguing? At the very least could they do it somewhere else…?

I followed the voices and found that… Drumroll please… Strawberry was in the middle of it! Yaaay… She was push into a corner by a trio of strange girls. One had long raven hair with bright violet eyes. She was the tallest of the three. The second had her blue hair pulled into a two tight buns and had pretty sky blue eyes. The shortest of the three had her crimson hair rolled into many small locks. Her eyes were a fiery red, giving her somewhat of a fierce look. They all had hair clips each being their respective fruit: Blackberry, Blueberry, and Raspberry.

At least that makes it easy to identify them.

The girls were ganged up on Strawberry… Kinda. The raspberry was doing most of the talking, with the other two girls being her backup. I decided to hide behind the corner and let things play out. If things got too serious, I'd step it. Buuuttt I'm sure Strawberry can handle things herself.

"Answer me!" Raspberry screamed. "What makes you think you can look down on me?!"

Strawberry completely ignored the girl, clicking away at her phone as Raspberry yelled her heart out. She waited until Raspberry to finished before deciding to give her the time of day.

"You done?" she asked, never peeking up from the screen. “I know this is how you like to pass the time, standing around in bathrooms, but I don’t. So could you move?”

_Whack!_

A loud smack rung across the room with the sound of shattering glass following behind like a small firecracker.

Raspberry slapped the phone out her hands. Strawberry picked up her cellphone. It hit the ground. Hard. It was completely destroyed. Not just the screen, but the back of the phone was leaking acid. My heart wretched at the scene. I know Strawberry isn't the nicest person but did she deserve this…?

Raspberry smiled, satisfied with her work. "Oops~ My hand slipped~" She taunted.

"That's too bad," her friend Blueberry joined in. "That phone looks sooo expensive. And… Oh no! Was that a LIMITED edition?"

"Yeah!" Blackberry added, grinning maliciously.

"It was." Strawberry confirmed, looking over the remains of her broken phone.

I had enough. I wasn’t going standby and watch anymore. It doesn't matter if it’s Strawberry, I'm not just going to let this happen! Like Green said, Strawberry was nasty, but that doesn’t mean she should get bullied!

I stepped from out the corner to defend Strawberry. But just as I did, Strawberry reached into her locker pulling out a SECOND phone. She had TWO of them. Why is she carrying around two of the same phone? Who does that?

She smiled as the girls stood there completely stunned.

"'Limited' doesn't mean anything to me though," she said with the smuggest smile I’ve ever seen. Heck, it makes me want to hit her.

"Yo-you think you're better than everyone just because you have a little money, don't ya!" Raspberry shouted.

"Yes." Strawberry answered without the slightest bit of humility or hesitation.

Why did I think about helping this girl again? Am I stupid?

"You know, you ask me the same thing over and over. 'Who do you think you are?', 'Think you're better than me', Blah, blah, blah. It's annoying," she mocked.

Raspberry looked absolutely pissed. Her face was just as red as her hair, the short girl practically turned into a tomato. The blueberry and blackberry did their best to calm her down.

Sadly for them, Strawberry couldn't care less and continued pissing the girl off even more.

"I'll say it slowly so that even you can understand: I have it all. Everything. Money, style, prestige, opportunity. Is there even a point in comparing the two of us? Whenever you do that, it makes me wonder if you’re blind or really that stupid."

In the presence of such an overwhelming huge ego, everyone’s face pulled into a sharp frown. Somehow, Strawberry was able to turn an already awful atmosphere more sour. Even while she’s being bullied, she still seemed to be the villain. It’s almost impressive in a warped kind of way.

“I couldn't care less what you say behind my back,” she continued. “Say whatever you need to make yourselves feel better. Just leave me out of it.” Strawberry started messing around with her phones, taking the SD card from the old phone and putting it into the new one. “Because unlike the rest of you, my time is worth something.”

Then she went back to whatever she was doing on her phone, deciding that the berries were no longer deserving of her attention.

“What’s with this girl?” Blueberry said, taken aback.

“Ye-yeah.” Blackberry piped in quietly.

Raspberry was silent but the look of visceral rage said more than words ever could/. She was way past talking. Instead, the girl cocked back and swung at Strawberry.

“Raspberry!?” Her two friends shouted.

Strawberry was completely defenseless. Maybe if she had paid just a tiny bit of attention to Raspberry, she could of ducked. But as things were Strawberry closed her eyes and braced herself to take the hit.

_Smack!_

Lucky for her, I was there.

She opened her eyes, confused when she wasn’t hit.

“It’s you! That weird girl! Why are you here?” she complained.

‘Weird girl’? Even when I’m helping her, she’s still just as rude.

“Who are you?” Blueberry screamed.

“Yeah!” Blackberry joined.

“AHHH!” Raspberry reeled her hand back, clutching it. Guess she hurt herself hitting me?

“Get out of the way, ugly! Or I’ll hit you too!” she roared taking another punch.

She striked me with another pathetically soft ‘thud’ and pulled back on the verge of tears. Are you kidding me? She couldn’t be this weak and trying to bully someone. Aren’t bullies supposed to be… I don’t know? Scary? I’m more afraid walking into a public bathroom than of her.

“My hand! MY HAND!” She gripped it even harder.

The berries behind her called for her to stop, but she wasn’t hearing any of it. She opened her hand before taking a ‘hard’ swing at my face.

A nasty sound _‘crack’_ went off when the hit connected. But I was perfectly fine. Raspberry, on the other hand, was not looking so good.

She rolled along on the floor bawling her eyes out and with a grossly swollen pulsating wrist.

“Oh my god! I think she broke my hand with her face!” She screamed.

I did what now?

“What a pathetic girl…” Strawberry murmured. Even though I agree with her, she doesn’t have much room to talk hiding right behind me.

“It’s alright, Raspberry! We got you!” Blueberry ran over, slinging Raspberry’s arm around her shoulder. “Come on, BB! Let’s get her to the clinic!” She turned to us, snarling as she dragged along the screaming Raspberry. “We’ll be back for you, Strawberry! And your hard faced friend of yours too!”

“Yeah!” I heard Blackberry shout as they ran out.

There’s definitely something up with that blackberry girl…

“Why did you step in? Nobody asked for you.”

After just receiving my help, Strawberry was not the slightest bit grateful. Can’t say that was unexpected it, but a ‘thank you’ would’ve been a nice surprise.

“So should I have let you get bullied then?” I asked.

“They aren’t bullied,” Strawberry snapped. “They’re just an occasional nuisance.”

“If that’s what you want to call it.” I shrugged.

“You should really learn how to mind your own business. Keep your nose away from where it doesn’t belong,” she huffed packing up her stuff.

“Uh-huh… But your ‘business’ was stopping me from getting to my stuff.” I pointed to my locker which was directly beside her.

Strawberry stood still for a moment, switching her gaze between me and my locker. “So?”

Sigh… This girl really hates being wrong. So annoying.

“Fine. I’ll try to be more carefully, okay?” I surrendered. There was no reasoning with this girl.

“Good,” she barked, quickly stuffing her bag and walking out as if nothing happened.

Talk about a waste of time. I could have been showering. Now where are the towels and soap...

I turned around and in front me was Strawberry! I nearly crashed into her!

While I wasn’t paying attention, she snuck back in for some reason. Before I could ask her why she was back, she handed me a piece of paper. I skimmed over it. It was a contract or something to that effect. It had her signature on it as well.

“Even though I didn’t need your help, you did do me a favor…” she said begrudgingly. “I don’t believe in charity, so I will pay you back. When I do, never bother me again.”

With her announcement finished, she disappeared for real this time.

What was I supposed to do with this? Carry this around with me all the time? And where did she even get this from…? Don’t tell me that already has them pre-made. They look really professional too… Geez, it wasn’t that serious. If she wanted to do me a favor, she could just leave me alone. I would have been fine without the headache.

I examined the contract. It really was well made without a crease or wrinkle to be seen. Maybe I’ll show it to Green? She’ll get a kick out of it.

But now that I’m thinking about it…

Probably should have asked Strawberry where the towels are.

After some searching, I was able to find everything and take a decently long shower. I cut it short because of the thing with Strawberry. After all, I don’t want to keep my friends waiting for me too long. But it’s already been an hour and twenty minutes, so who’s to say that they’re even there anymore! Hahaha!

…Okay, maybe I should hurry it up some more.

I went back to my locker, placed in front of it was a brand new uniform. It was still covered in plastic. There was a note left on top that read:

_I noticed that you didn’t have the school’s uniform, so I got you a spare. Feel free to keep it. Please do not wear your previous outfit. **Please.**_

_-Mrs. Muscleman_

That was nice of her… Guess she does more than put me through extreme amounts of exercise. I looked over the uniform. My uniform. It wasn’t any different from anyone else’s, but it felt good to have one of my own. Now I’m officially a student at Orchard. Hehe… I can’t wait to see the looks on everyone’s faces. Green will probably say something like, ‘Is that really you Kiwi? I couldn’t recognize you. You definitely wear that better than I do.’

But let’s not stay here any longer. I’m sure that they’re tired of waiting.

\-----------------------------------------

“What’s taking Kiwi so long? I’m tired of waiting.” Green complained.

“Please calm down,” Banana said. “I’m sure Kiwi will be finished soon enough.”

“Yeah. You took just as long to come out last year, Green. I waited for you then.” Red added.

“No, I didn’t. Plus, I’m your sister. Of course you’d wait on me.” Green said.

Red clicked her tongue. “Ehh… I guess...”

Banana interrupted the sisters’ banter. “Look. There goes Kiwi now.”

I walked into the packed cafeteria. It was fair busier than at breakfast, but even then it was pretty packed. It was near impossible to find the girls, but lucky Banana waved me down and I was able to find them. I made my way over to the table, somehow they managed to find an empty one.

“Hey girls. You won’t believe what happ--”

As I tried to tell them about the bullying incident, the Apples suddenly stood up.

“Okay! Kiwi’s here. Let’s go eat!” Red shouted, dashing off to the line.

Green wasn’t too far behind. “Already gone,” she said, speeding off. Leaving Banana and I sat at the table alone.

Wha-what just happened? Aren’t they at least going to say hi? I know they’re greedy, but they can’t be that hungry.

“Hello, Kiwi.” Banana smiled. “What was it you were going to say?”

For a moment, I considered telling her about what happened with Strawberry. But, in the end, I decided against it. “Oh, it’s nothing. Never mind.”

It’ll probably just spoil the mood anyway.

“Okay then. Shall we go eat?” she asked.

I didn’t feel hungry earlier, but when she mentioned it, my stomach rumbled loudly. With everything that happened, I guess I didn’t think about eating. The smell of all the exotic dishes around me wasn’t helping much either.

“Yeah, let’s go.” I nodded.

The line was pretty long but moved along pretty quickly. I picked out a strawberry-walnut salad and a cup of lemonade. Banana chose a plain baked potato and a cup of water. I told her she could get something more fulling, the meal was free. But she insisted that, she had enough. I guess that’s how she keeps her skin looking so healthy.

When we finished getting our food, Green and Red were already stuffing their faces.

“Hey Kiwi.” “Sup Kiwi.” They said, face deep in their plates.

Banana and I froze at the sight of the them. Banana pudding, apple fritters, pasta with red sauce, stir fry, strawberry cake, mango lemonade… Uhh, what’s with all the food? Was this supposed to be for just them or…?

“You two are quite the big eaters,” Banana said, struggling to find space to place her measly potato.

“’Big’ is an understatement… Do you two really need to eat so much?” I asked .

“Kiwi… Calories are incredibly important. We burned a lot today so we need to replenish them.” Red said sternly.

She makes a pretty sound argument, but do they need that many calories?

“Plus, these all taste good,” she finished, defeating what she just said. “But you do have a point… Green’s chest has gotten bigger.” Red admitted. “We should go out jogging more to help you lose some of that fat, sis.”

Green groaned at the thought of more exercise. “That’s not fair,” she grumbled. “You eat way more than I do. It’s not like I wanted to be cursed with these awful things. I’d gladly trade for your flat chest.”

Red covered her chest, her face glowing a bright… Well, red. “I’m still growing, you know. I wish I had just a bit more… Kind of like Banana.”

“Yeah.” Green agreed. “Not too much, not too little. The perfect amount.”

“Thank you.” Banana smiled politely. “If it were possible, I’d shared my breasts with the entire world,” she said with complete sincerity, not noticing the huge issue with that statement.

”No, I don’t think you should be doing that,” I objected, trying to cut the conversation short before it could devolve.

But that’s never possible with Green around.

“Then again… There is a market for that kind of stu—”

“NO.” 

_Sigh…_ For someone who seems so regal, Banana really doesn’t have much common sense, does she? That’s bad… She needs to work on that. At this moment, I promised myself to protect Banana from people who’ll take advantage of her. People who are devious, sadistic, and with bad intentions…

So basically Green. I’ll have to make sure she doesn’t throw out anymore stupid suggestions.

“Hey, Kiwi. Did you change something?” Banana asked.

“Yeah, you do seem different.” Red agreed. “I can’t put my finger on what it is though.”

They finally noticed the uniform. I’m not gonna tell them what it is. I’ll let them do a bit of guessing first.

“Is it her hair? It is a lot cleaner than previously.” Banana suggested.

Red shook her head. “Well, there’s that. But there’s something else.”

The girls quietly mused over it. 

Come on, it’s not that difficult. It’s literally right in front of you…

“I got it!” Green shouted. “It’s her face! She was exercising with Mrs. Muscleman, right? So she lost some weight in her face! And so now her face looks a lot stronger!”

“I see. That makes sense.” Banana agreed.

“That could be it.” Red nodded along, agreeing with Green’s nonsensical conclusion.

Is everyone around me blind?

“…I got a new uniform.” I whispered, my enthusiasm pretty much dead.

Their blank stares said more than enough.

“My clothes. They changed.”

Red tilted her head, confused, before a light went off in her head and she finally processed what I said. “Ooohhh! I see it now! You look nice, Kiwi.” Red smiled awkwardly trying to mask her mistake.

I wasn’t having it though.

“Don’t lie to me, Red! I don’t look ‘nice’. You just said I looked manly!”

“Not manly, strong faced! And I never said that! Green did!” Red threw her sister under the bus without a second thought.

“You all made fun of my clothes all day. How do none of you notice my new outfit? Aren’t girls supposed to be good at that sort of thing?”

“Well, everyone being in their uniform is natural. You become blind to it.” Red explained. “It’s becomes so normal that it’s like being naked.”

“Red… What type of places do you go to where being naked is normal?”

“Th-that’s not what I meant!” She stuttered, blushing fiercely.

“Excuse me…”

Midway through our discussion, another fruit entered the fray. It was Orange. Why wouldn’t it be. Ever since I met her, I haven’t been able to escape her. I thought it’d be different since, she wasn’t already sitting at the table when I came, but that was wrong.

But something was different about her. She was a lot meeker than her usual bubbly self. Did something happen?

I turned to Green. “What did you do?” I whispered.

“Why am I automatically the bad guy?” she whispered back.

Orange stood quietly, hiding something behind her back. Knowing her, it was probably some more treats. She took a moment to gather her thoughts before she spoke.

“Here.” She handed me a small bag. Opening it up revealed that it was, of course, a bunch of candy.

“What’s this for?” I asked.

“Earlier this morning, I was very rude to you,” Orange said quietly. “So I wanted to make things right.”

I didn’t think much of this morning. To be honest, Orange was, sadly, one of my nicer encounters of the day. But it was nice of her to apologize, my opinion of her improved just a little bit.

“Thank you, Orange.” I smiled.

“I realized something while we were at the gym…” Orange continued. “The reason why all your clothes were so big, why you were so amazing during the tests… You were once as big as me… No… Bigger than me! Huge! Humongous!”

What is she talking about? I was never ‘big’. I just like baggy clothes. Why doesn’t anyone understand that?

“Hehehe…” Green snickered from across the table. I rolled my eyes. Green will be Green. No point in getting mad.

“But you worked hard and lost all that weight!” Orange said, continuing her delusion. “So I’m asking if you would be my personal trainer!”

Ooo, I didn’t think it’d get to here. Yikes.

“Uhh… I’m not sure if I can.” I tried to put her down gently. Hopefully she’ll get the hint.

Orange obviously did not.

“Of course you can! If you can lose weight like that, anyone can! I’ll even pay you in snacks.”

The bottomless pit, Red, perked up when she heard the word “snacks.” I swear her stomach does half the thinking for her.

“That’s a pretty good deal, isn’t it Kiwi?” she said.

I thought about shattering Orange’s theory, but this Orange was a lot better than the one I was dealing with before, at the cost of her being a bit more embarrassing.

By this point, Green was laughing so hard that she was on the verge of tears. I sighed again. There was no point in getting mad at Green…

When I could get even.

“No, no. I’d love to be your trainer, but I can’t. You wouldn’t be able to keep up with me.” I explained.

“Really?” Orange frowned, her excitement disappearing.

“But don’t worry! My subordinate Green will train you! She’s trying to lose weight too and she’s closer to your level.” I said, putting on the friendliest smile I could muster.

Red immediately knew what I was doing and dove her face into her arms, fighting back the incredible urge to laugh. Banana chuckled lightly.

Green wasn’t too happy with the suggestion though.

“What was that?” She stopped laughing.

I smiled at Green, “You’d be happy to do that for her, right?”

“No-“

“Thank you so much, Green!” Orange hugged Green tightly. “I really appreciate this!”

“Is there a brain in your head? Or is it only a display model? I said no.” Green frowned.

Orange looked completely lost. “But Kiwi said you would.”

“I sure did.” I smiled. “It’s okay, she listens to me.”

“Kiwi, you’re so full—"

“See? You’re doing it!” Orange shouted.

The scene was reminiscent of an older brother being forced to take care of his younger brother by their mom. Green couldn’t escape. Even if she tried, Orange will always find a way to bother her. I turned to Green and felt my cheesy smile warp into a huge malicious grin. I gotta say… I felt pretty good..

Green gave me the coldest, nastiest look I’ve received so far today. And I dealt with Strawberry so that’s saying something.

“You got me.” She gave me a thumbs up, but her look of disdained stayed the same.

“Right!” Orange dug into her bag, giving everyone their own bags of candy. “To celebrate our new friendships, I brought these!”

Where she’s getting all this junk food… Just drop it, Kiwi. Just take the candy and shut up.

“Also, in celebration of being friends,” she said noticeably quieter. “Can I sit with you girls…? If not, that’s okay too…”

“Of course you can.” “Why wouldn’t you?” Banana and Red both agreed.

“Sure.” I smiled.

“Ugh, I guess…” Green grumbled.

Tears welled in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks like drops of rain. Behind that childlike demeanor was a far lonelier girl than I knew. 

“Thank you so much…” she said, wiping her face.

“You’ll have to sit on the floor though,” Green said, ruining the mood in one sentence.

“What? Why!” In an instant, Orange was back to her usual self.

“It’s a new exercise. Have you ever heard of ‘Wall Sitting’? Well, this is floor sit. You sit. On the floor.” Green lied.

Gulliable as ever, Orange believed her. “Really?”

“Green, stop messing with Orange,” Red said. “Orange, get off the floor, please.”

“Hmm… I’ve never heard of ‘floor sitting’ before.” Banana muttered.

“That’s because it’s not a thing, Banana.” Red quickly answered.

I took a moment to look at the fruits surrounding me: A super positive and gluttonous red apple, a sour and sarcastic green one. A slightly annoying orange. A kind but naive banana. And me, the plain old kiwi. Thinking back, a lot happened to me to today. I had a lot of embarrassing moments but plenty of good ones too. I’m glad that I was able to come here. Even though I’m surrounded by some of the weirdest girls, I’ve ever met. I can’t say I’d change a thing. But from the outside looking in that we make one heck of a…

Fruit salad. (Hehe… Sorry.)


End file.
